It's Wednesday, January 4, and you know what that means: it's time to revel in the dorky cosplay some extremely athletic nerds wore in front of tens of thousands of screaming fans during New Japan Pro Wrestling's annual Tokyo Dome show.
This year, one of the biggest matches at Wrestle Kingdom saw 'NJPW alum turned AEW co-founder' Kenny Omega challenge 'guy who I'd like a bit better if he stopped tweeting like such an idiot' Will Ospreay for the IWGP United States Championship. In Ospreay's corner was the power of Assassin's Creed's titular order. But Omega had the weight of Final Fantasy's most terrifying villain on his side.
If you've followed any non-WWE wrestling in the past decade, you already know that Kenny Omega is a gamer. His moves include a signature knee strike named after Street Fighter's V-Trigger and a finishing move named for the musical theme of Final Fantasy 7's Sephiroth: the One-Winged Angel. This year at Wrestle Kingdom, what I assume is Omega's lifelong dream came true - he actually made his entrance to the tune of One-Winged Angel.
wrestle_kingdom_17_spoilers_kenny_omegas_entrance from r/SquaredCircle
Omega's done similarly gaming influenced entrances in the past, including a lavish Undertale tribute (made alongside Toby Fox) for what was, as of 2019, his final match in NJPW. There was also his incredible Destiny 2 cosplay a year earlier. He interviewed the Final Fantasy 7 remake devs in 2020, and we (that is, 12DOVE) interviewed him back in 2015. You know, just because gaming wrestlers are cool.
The other side of this match was filled by Will Ospreay, and while he doesn't go quite as far in his gaming tributes, he does typically enter the ring in an Assassin's Creed-inspired hood and often beats opponents with a move called the Hidden Blade. His Wrestle Kingdom entrance this year played up the assassin moniker very directly, too.
wrestle_kingdom_17_spoilers_will_ospreays_entrance from r/SquaredCircle
Here's your spoiler warning if you haven't yet seen Wrestle Kingdom: we can finally put to rest whether Assassin's Creed or Final Fantasy is the better franchise. Omega took Ospreay's title after using the One-Winged Angel. FF beats AC. Sorry, folks, you can't argue with wrestling.
Get your fill of pretend pugilism with our guide to the best fighting games.
