The Kazuchika Okada vs Kenny Omega match from Wrestle Kingdom 11 had the wrestling world buzzing last week. The match had a lot of fans saying that it was the best they had ever seen. Dave Meltzer awarded the match 6 stars out of a possible 5. A majority of fans loved it, but not everyone.
On the Jim Cornette Experience podcast, Cornette explained why he thought the match was overrated. Cornette lists matches like: Jerry Lawler vs. Terry Funk, Tiger Mask vs. The Dynamite Kid, Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat, Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart and others that blow it out of the water.
Here is what he said:
“I watched this match and I’m sorry, folks, but there is no way, and shape, and form and if you watch them together and if you’re a younger fan, you might not agree with this because you didn’t live in the time when pro wrestling matches actually happened. Now you have sports entertainment matches. But there’s no way this Kenny Omega and Okada match was anywhere near as good as [other 5 star matches listed above]. I mean, it was a great display of athleticism. I mean, these guys, they took a lot of risks. But it had such obvious cooperation and moves that nobody could really get up from and et cetera, that it doesn’t fit in that category”
He continued:
“As far as I’m concerned, Kenny Omega should do the motion-capture deal for video games that he is so infatuated with, but it wasn’t a five-star pro wrestling match much less a six-star pro wrestling match. And I’m sorry! I’m f**king sorry! But it was an exhibition of guys doing moves. I mean, it was wonderful. The first 10 minutes, I was dying. They fought on the floor forever without being counted out and I jotted down some things. They’d do a big move and then they’d lay around forever. They sold so much and everybody said, ‘oh, Cornette, you say don’t sell at all!’ Well, some people don’t sell at all and they sold so much. They knew they were going to go long because long equals classic, but they sold so much they were in slow-mo. Omega is a great athlete. He still has the stupid facial expressions. Calm down on The Ultimate Warrior f**king s**t and anything that reminds me of The Ultimate Warrior instantly makes me mad because he was the worst pushed wrestler in a major promotion ever. It was a really good 20-minute match that lasted 45 minutes”
[irp posts=”16011″ name=”All of The Five Star Matches In WWE/WWF History”]
You can listen to the podcast here. h/t WrestlingInc for the transcript.
Let us know what you think of his comments or of the match in general in the comment section below. Is Cornette way off-base here? What did you think of the match?
I agree w/ cornette. as far as exhibitions go, it wasn’t even as good as ospreay/ricochet.