Kenny Omega Defeats Yota Tsuji To Earn IWGP Heavyweight Championship For Wrestle Kingdom 21

“The Cleaner” returned to Japan and walked out with a title shot for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.

At New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Power Struggle event, many AEW vs. NJPW matches went down, and as a result, many more have been set up for Wrestle Kingdom in January. A key one was a triple-threat match between IWGP World Champion Yota Tsuji, Boltin Oleg, and Kenny Omega. If Omega won, he was set to receive an opportunity to reclaim the company’s biggest prize for the first time since the beginning of 2019, and by the end of the match, Omega hit Tsuji with the One Winged Angel to secure his victory.

Of course, throughout his career, Omega has had a special relationship with the Wrestle Kingdom event, not least when you consider the three times he’s been tied to the IWGP Heavyweight Title at the event. In 2017, the Canadian was one-half of an era-defining match against Kazuchika Okada over the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in a match which seemed to instantly change the wrestling landscape. Then, in 2019, after he’d finally been able to climb the mountain, he lost the gold to “The Ace” Hiroshi Tanahashi, while next year will see him attempt to channel the version of himself that sat atop the throne in New Japan all those years ago.

Whether Omega wins the title at Wrestle Kingdom remains unclear, though dropped a promo in Japanese after the triple-threat match, declaring his intent a lot more in Japan if he won the title. In doing so, he looked to dispel any fears that he would fit into Callum Newman’s perception of AEW stars being uncommitted to NJPW. For now, we’ll have to wait and see whether Kenny can win back the title and return to New Japan on a consistent basis.

Other AEW vs. New Japan matches that are now set for Wrestle Kingdom include Will Ospreay vs. Callum Newman, MJF vs. Ryohei Oiwa, Gabe Kidd vs. Yuya Uemura, and Jon Moxley vs. Shingo Takagi.

As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on Kenny Omega’s shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship as soon as we hear more.