Kenny Omega made his triumphant return to New Japan Pro Wrestling at Wrestle Kingdom 17, winning the IWGP United States Championship in the process.
The day after his victory over Will Ospreay, Omega unexpectedly teamed up with his longtime rival and one of the top stars of the promotion, Kazuchika Okada. The pair defeated the United Empire duo of Jeff Cobb and Aaron Henare in the main event of New Year Dash.
Omega and Okada joining forces was a big moment in the annals of New Japan as the pair are more often at loggerheads, battling over the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.
They have had four singles matches, culminating in an epic 2-Out-Of-3 Falls encounter at Dominion in 2018 which lasted over an hour and saw The Best Bout Machine finally capture the top prize in the promotion.
Since January’s show, Okada has hinted at teaming with Omega again. When he was searching for a third man to help in his fight for the NEVER 6-Man Openweight Championships, he suggested Omega might be the ideal partner by using his “Goodbye and good night!” catchphrase.
Kenny Omega won’t rule out working with Kazuchika Okada again
Speaking to Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, Omega admitted that Okada using the phrase caught his attention. However, he considers their team-up as a one-and-done.
“Absolutely it did. I checked my text messages right away to see if there was something I wasn’t privy to.”
“I wouldn’t be so quick to scratch his name off the list of guys I wouldn’t help. Our match together was a wild-card draft. It was a fun time. It felt to me like, ‘We had our thing. Our thing is done.’”
Despite that, he also wouldn’t close the door on teaming with The Rainmaker again if the opportunity arose.
“I’ve said it before—Okada is very sharp. He is who he is for a reason. I had a lot of fun teaming with him at New Japan Dash, so I wouldn’t strike that off the list of potential people who I wouldn’t mind having their back.”
A fifth match in the series between the two has been a dream match for many fans ever since the final fall was counted in their last battle. Unfortunately, Omega doesn’t see that happening anytime soon as they are in separate divisions, and he is happier being allies with his old foe for now.
“We’re in completely separate divisions right now. I’m US champion, and he’s competing for the IWGP heavy. It’s good to let us exist in our respective worlds and be comrades for a change.”
If the rematch is ever to happen, it might have to be sooner rather than later as Omega has recently admitted that “Time is running thin” on his clock.