One of the matches at the recent Wrestle Kingdom 17 event has received a rare high rating from Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that sees it ranked as the joint second best match of all time.
The bout between Will Ospreay and Kenny Omega, which saw Omega emerge as the victor and new IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion, received a 6.25-star rating from Meltzer, making it only the second match ever to achieve such a high rating. The other match to receive a 6.25-star rating from Meltzer was Okada vs. Omega II at Dominion 2017.
Only one match has ever scored a higher rating, the famous seven-star match between Kazuchika Okada and Kenny Omega at NJPW Dominion in 2018
According to Meltzer’s ratings, the top-rated matches of all time that have surpassed the previous five-star ceiling are:
7-Stars:
- Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega IV – NJPW Dominion 6.9 2018
6.25-Stars:
- Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega II – NJPW Dominion 6.11 2017
- Will Ospreay vs. Kenny Omega – NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17
6-Stars:
- Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat – the Landover, Michigan live event, March 18th, 1989
- Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada IX – AJPW, June 3rd, 1994
- Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega I – NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 11
- Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega III – NJPW G1 Climax 2017
- The Young Bucks vs. Kenny Omega & “Hangman” Adam Page – AEW Revolution 2020
- Shingo Takagi vs. Will Ospreay – NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 2021
5.75-Stars:
- Kenny Omega vs. Tetsuya Naito II – NJPW G1 Climax 2017
- Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi – NJPW G1 Climax 2018
- Kenny Omega vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi – NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 13
- Shingo Takagi vs. Will Ospreay – NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 2019
- Kazuchika Okada vs. Wil Ospreay IV – NJPW G1 Climax 2019 –
- The Young Bucks vs. The Lucha Brothers – AEW All Out 2021
- Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay VII – NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 16, Night Two
- Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay VIII – NJPW G1 Climax 2022
5.5-Stars:
- Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada – NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 2018
- Hiromu Takahashi vs. Taiji Ishimori – NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 2018
- Kenny Omega vs. Tomohiro Ishii – NJPW G1 Climax 2018
- Kenny Omega vs. Kota Ibushi – NJPW G1 Climax 2018
- Adam Cole vs. Johnny Gargano – NXT TakeOver: New York
- Shingo Takagi vs. Tomohiro Ishii – NJPW G1 Climax 2019
- Jay White vs. Kota Ibushi – NJPW G1 Climax 2019
- Will Ospreay vs. Hiromu Takahashi – NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14, Night One
- Kazuchika Okada vs. Kota Ibushi – NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14, Night One
- Shingo Takagi vs. Will Ospreay – New Japan Cup 2021
- Syuri vs. Utami Hayashishita – STARDOM Tokyo Dream Cinderella Special 2021
- Shingo Takagi vs. Tomohiro Ishii – NJPW G1 Climax 2021
- Kenny Omega vs. Adam Page – AEW Full Gear 2021
- Shingo Takagi vs. Will Ospreay – NJPW G1 Climax 2022
- FTR vs. The Briscoes – ROH Final Battle 2022
5.25-Stars:
- Adam Cole vs. Johnny Gargano – NXT TakeOver XXV
- Tyler Bate vs. WALTER – NXT TakeOver: Cardiff
- The Young Bucks vs. The Lucha Brothers – AEW All Out 2019
- Kota Ibushi vs. Minoru Suzuki – NJPW G1 Climax 2020
- Kazuchika Okada vs. Shingo Takagi – NJPW G1 Climax 2020
- FTR vs. The Young Bucks – AEW Full Gear 2020
- Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay V – NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 15, Night One
- Jay White vs. Kota Ibushi – NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 15, Night Two
- WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov – NXT TakeOver 36
The Ospreay vs. Omega match at Wrestle Kingdom 17 now holds a prestigious spot among these critically acclaimed bouts. As a result, Ospreay tied Mitsuharu Misawa as the wrestler with the most five-star or higher ratings awarded by Meltzer.
It will be interesting to see if any future matches between Ospreay and Omega are able to surpass the 6.25-star rating and join the elite group of 7-star rated matches, or even go beyond that.