I hope Okada Omega 4 is THIS extra

An anonymous reader (on tumblr) asked:

Ok imagine you are given free reign (with the consent/support of all wrestlers involved) to write okada/omega at dominion. What would you put (or what are your predictions for dominion) THANKS LOVE YOU NEVER CHANGE!! ❤️❤️❤️

Aw, thanks Anon. But wait until you see what I wrote in answer to this before you tell me to never change ;) . It’s almost 4k words. Are you ABSOLUTELY SURE you want me to never change? Oh my fucking god, this is so long.

Our Heroes prepare for battle in different ways.

Anyway. To me it seems pretty given that Kenny’s going to win. I was going to write about what happens if Kenny loses — or something else, like if Kota or the Young Bucks betray him, if Kazuchika and Gedo turn chickenshit heel and cheat to win, etc. And I also wanted to mourn the almost certain burial of the only person I’ve ever truly loved, Kota Ibushi. But then this got REALLY LONG, so instead I’m just going to focus on what I think is the most likely outcome of like, you know. The actual match.

TL; DR

Given how big a moment this is for Kenny, for Okada, for the fans, and for the company, my guess is the match is going to be sort of a… symbolic retrospective of their individual career arcs and their rivalry. (Although, this post is a bit Kenny-heavy in terms of analysis, because this time the story is more about him and his journey, whereas I feel like Okada-Omega 1 and 2 were more about Okada’s journey.)

Everything that happens will be Very Meaningful, because, well. It’s these guys. The narrative underpinnings for this match have been built over the last few months and years, so this post is going to be what I think would be a narratively satisfying culmination of all the groundwork that’s been laid so far, and not necessarily something that I think can or will happen.

Again, this is like… really long, but it’s good. Trust me. I actually really like the booking I came up with.

Who will show up to the match? And how did those people come to be?

Ultra-cocky, trying to hide nerves with feigned boredom Kazu.

• The Narrative on Okada is that he’s Dominant Champion, having bested his first and most bothersome rival, Hiroshi Fucking Tanahashi, with ONE Rainmaker in his last title defense. That’s all it took to put away the goddamn Ace of the Universe.
• But there’s another side to that narrative that both Okada and Gedo are aware of, hoping no one sees. Which is that for over 30 minutes, Okada failed to hit one (1) Rainmaker on Tana. And the second he did, he scrambled to cover. By contrast, Tana hit 2 High Fly Flows; the second, of course, ill-advised since the first very obviously would have been the end of the match if Tana had attempted to cover.
• We know how Okada title defenses go by now. We’ve seen him toy with his opponents. Even Kenneth is usually made to eat 2–3 Rainmakers before Okada deigns to attempt a half-assed pin.
• But his last title defense ended with fear. Tanahashi, the Aging Ace, the man he’d thought he put behind him, made Okada feel threatened to the point where he couldn’t make a Rainmaker happen. Even Zack Sabre Jr., the windyman with 5,283 counters, didn’t have enough tricks to avoid eating a few Rainmakers before the one that brought him down.
• But Okada was shaken enough by the fight Tanahashi put up that, just for a moment, he dropped the cocky facade, and he was scared, and we all saw it. He wasn’t confident enough for his usual dominance. He looked like he was fighting an uphill battle, even though he won.
• And what did he do after that? He immediately called out the only person who still makes him feel a little insecure.
• He got scared, and he got irrational, and his knee-jerk response was bluster and bravado that even Gedo wasn’t sure Okada could back up with action.
• But why is he scared? He’s beaten everyone imaginable, he’s broken every record. His championship reign has entered its Terrible Twos; he’s climbing all over the bleachers at Korakuen and yelling ‘scooby-dooby-doo!’ before a dropkick (that happened). He’s gone from Serious Champion to Petulant Boy King, because he fucking can. So what’s he afraid of?
• TL;DR, the stakes for Okada: Okada’s been champ for so long that it’s become his identity. Who is he without that belt? What is he worth if he’s not on a whole other level? Is he still a worthwhile, useful person without his title? He has no idea, and the glimpses of possibility that he has seen haven’t been encouraging. He’s sullen and angsty, nearly-desperately clinging to the only thing he knows for sure about himself.

Humble, nervous, hopeful, happy Kenneth.

• Kenneth does not give a fuck about titles! He said those exact words!
• “I was surprised when he called me out… I’m with Ibushi now.”
• Yeah, he wants to win this, because Greatness Was Thrust Upon Him, but he was busy being happy and Changing The World™ when The Greatness got Thrusted Upon Him. (*resists the obvious Kota Ibushi joke*)
• okay but for real: Kenny spent the last few years desperately trying to forget — while at the same time making sure he never lets us forget — that he has always been, and will always be, a Golden Lover in his heart.
• He ground himself to dust trying to prove that he was something else, that he was The Cleaner, the leader of the Bullet Club, whose only goal was domination. His real goal, of course, was to be so amazing that his former tag team partner would come back to him.
• But as @mitchtheficus pointed out in this very great post, that was never what mattered to Kota. Kota came back when Kenny had nothing, had just lost so much.
• Kenny wasn’t The Cleaner, and Kota knew it all along. When Kenny told Cody to stay away from Kota, then saved his former Golden Lover from a chair to the head courtesy of the Bullet Club — when he showed he was willing to take actual risks instead of just talking shit — Kota got the confirmation he needed that the person he loved was still in there.
• So Kota acted on it, and it was all over but the inappropriate confetti and weepy Milano Collection AT. Kenny being great didn’t make Kota come back. Kenny being Kenny made Kota come back.
• And thus, through The Redeeming Power of True Love, Kenny learned that his worth was not in what he could achieve, but who he could be.
• “We can’t just have the best natural pro wrestler steering the ship. We need someone who captures the imagination; someone who captures the heart.”
• Kenny’s got different priorities now. Where once he was consumed by the unquenchable hunger for external validation, and his title ambitions were just a part of that, now he feels centered and whole, and his title ambitions are more about the potential to make people happy.
• He knows, maybe better than anyone, what Okada is capable of. So he’s devoted himself to training, preparing, planning. He feels ready, and he credits a lot of that to having a great training and tag team/life partner, who helps him be the best he can be, physically and emotionally.
• Every time Kenny faced Okada in the past, he insisted he was at his peak. But now, he’s realized that his peak is higher than he imagined, because it involves emotional strength as well as physical. And he’s at it.
• He has also alluded to Kota being there with him at ringside, and I think Kota will be there. I predict Kenny will have new gear for this but it will definitely have some Golden Lovers theme to it, and probably Kota will be wearing Golden Lovers merch too.
• TL; DR, the stakes for Omega: He wants to win because he sees a title reign as an opportunity to Change the World™. He’s realized that his prior attempts to win involved an empty, unhappy person who craved validation, and it never would have been enough to make him feel okay. He was in it for the glory, because he was desperate to feel worthwhile as a person. Now he knows that he is worthwhile, and that if he loses, he’ll still be worthwhile. He’s counting on the fact that being a better, happier, more complete person will give him the edge he needs to win.

If you don’t want to read all the bullet points just read this part >> As they have in the past, these two are going into this match as foils. Okada, consumed by being Champion to the point where he’s desperate not to lose, terrified to find out who he is without the big gold belt; untethered, without a sense of self. Omega, finally happy in life, soulmate by his side, more concerned about changing the world than titles; grounded, knowing exactly who he is.

Why Kenny’s going to win

In Kayfabe

The lesson here is that a person who is not in possession of themselves is going to lose to someone who is. Every time Okada and Omega have faced off in the past, Okada’s been the confident, self-possessed one, and Omega’s been the wayward empty shell of a person. The tables are turned now, and since even broken, empty Kenny was able to fight Okada to a draw, then beat him in a non-title match, you’ve got to imagine he’s unstoppable now.

And, just like Kenny’s career trajectory has been about finding his way back to Kota, the story of Kenny in the Okada-Omega rivalry has symbolically followed a similar progression [include bracketed text for EXTREMELY DRAMA INTERPRETATION]:

• First, [symbolic of his Golden Lovers days, Kenny tries to be like Kota] by doing a Golden Triangle Moonsault at Wrestle Kingdom 11, and he loses.
• Then [symbolic of post-GL-breakup-Kenny], there’s no Kota tribute (that I’m aware of!) in last year’s Dominion match, and he draws.
• For the third match, [symbolic of pining, subtweeting, facade-crumbling-around-him Kenneth] he’s openly admitting he wants to have the spirit of his former Golden Lover with him. And he wins their G1 Block match.
• But he loses the G1 Finals, ie an opportunity to challenge again [symbolic of how, at the G1, he finally got Kota back, but he didn’t hang on].

Now, it looks like Kota’s actually going to be there with him, literally and spiritually in his corner, where Kenny always not-so-secretly wished he was.

So Kenny will win this time. In his mind, he’s already won; he’s already gotten the thing he wanted most, and that will elevate him to winning the thing he’s wanted second-most, over the years. Like he said, “the real Kenny is at Kota’s side,” and the real Kenny is the one who finally wins.

IRL

Kenny is possibly the most popular wrestler in the world right now, and with NJPW’s sights on worldwide expansion, he’s a very lucrative face for the company. Plus, people are beyond sick of Okada’s title reign, and there’s really nowhere, narratively, for Okada to go from here if he wins. The story itself has become stale. And hey, Kenny really does deserve it.

The actual fucking match jesus christ rachel answer the goddamn question

Because I’m going for MAX DRAMA, I’m setting up a narrative in which the three falls are symbolic of the first three matches in their rivalry, each of which redefined them as wrestlers, and (at least the first two) changed what wrestling even fucking is. Their rivalry has shown them to be almost inarguably the two best in the world, by miles, and this match will showcase that by telling their story.

First Fall

Okada will get the first fall. It’ll be a Rainmaker that Kenny could see coming a mile away and still can’t stop. Okada’s the company man, he’s fucking amazing, he makes this shit look easy. Kenny’s always felt like he’s nipping at Okada’s heels.

In their first match against each other, Okada was victorious. Kenny looked amazing, but Okada was dominant the entire match, even when Kenny started to lose steam. And that match was all about how fucking incredible and unprecedented a champion Kazuchika Okada is and was. It wasn’t his first title defense in this reign, but it was a coronation for him, and helped bring NJPW to the world stage.

We won’t see the scared, uneasy Okada I talked about above–not yet. This first part of the match will be classic Okada, the guy who makes it seem like there’s no one else in the ring with him, the guy who absolutely DESERVES his catch phrase “I’m on a whole other level.” We’ll see the Okada who was almost inarguably the best wrestler on the planet for so long. Untouchable, polished, relentless, ahead of Omega at every turn.

So for the first part of the match, Okada will dazzle. Not that Omega won’t, but Okada will show us exactly why he’s been champ for almost two years, and why he has deserved to be. This also serves to remind us of what Kenny is going to have to overcome to be victorious, and what he has had to overcome in their rivalry.

Mechanics-wise, it makes sense for this to happen to make Omega’s eventual victory as impactive as possible, and make Okada look strong in defeat. Okada’s eventual defeat needs to be just as epic and breathtaking as the rest of his title reign has been; whatever you have to say about it, he absolutely deserves to look like a superstar, even though he’s losing.

Second Fall

Kenny will get the second fall. But it’ll be something extra dramatic–not a finisher, but something accidental, or something that’s taking advantage of an opportunity, like a rollup or Okada having his own shoulders down during a hold.

It will come after a long stretch of continually-escalating attacks, where each time one of them thinks they have the upper hand, the other has an answer ready to frustratingly level the playing field. It’ll just go back and forth like that for a while–this is where they’ll fight in the crowd or whatever, and where the most impressive spots will happen.

Eventually, something will break the stalemate. It’ll be something really small, and since I’m booking this for extra drama, it will be something that references that infamous spot in the last few minutes of Okada-Omega 2, where Kenny counters a Rainmaker by slumping to his knees in exhaustion.

The second fall should feel just-barely won, maybe after trading two counts back and forth. Something that evokes their second match; a time limit draw.

Okada starts falling apart here, because the only way he was going to feel confident was if this was easy for him. And it wasn’t. It’s not hard for the self-doubt to start creeping in, and after the second fall, he starts making mistakes. At this point, he wanted to be energized, but instead, he’s demoralized. He feels like everything that just happened is meaningless, because after ALL OF THAT, Okada and Omega are still. Fucking. Equals.

Kenny, on the other hand, starts to feel a little hopeful, because he’s always known he’s the type for whom stuff doesn’t come naturally, and to him, it feels like hard work paid off in the form of keeping him in the match. To him, the fact that they’re still equals means he has a fighting chance.

Third Fall

Note: it’s about to get REALLY FUCKING EXTRA in here. From here on out is squarely me fantasy booking and not really making predictions anymore.

Sometime between the second and third fall, Kenny should get hit, and start bleeding. I fucking hate blood, but it makes sense here. I guess it doesn’t have to be blood, but somehow, Kenny is having trouble seeing or becomes very disoriented in some way. Kota realizes Kenny is impaired, and starts moving around the outside of the ring along with Kenny, so that he can help Kenny stay aware of the boundaries of the ring. He should have a few spots where he could easily find the ropes IF he could see, but he can’t, so Kota has to make noise to help him find the ropes and corners and stuff. Kenny is initially panicked but starts being able to let himself trust Kota’s direction, and he is at least defending himself against Okada and buying himself time.

But Okada is starting to get his confidence back. He’s taking advantage of Kenny’s weakness, being quicker, moving faster, and overpowering Kenny because he doesn’t have time to react. And he and Gedo will do their best to drown out Kota. Okada looks dazzling and dominant, and it’s only by Kota’s help that Kenny is able to barely, barely mount any kind of defense. Okada’s ahead of him every step.

Somehow, Kota should get accidentally knocked out. [If you want to be extra heelish here, and I do, bc I want Okada and Gedo to go full heel after this loss, you should have Gedo interfere with the Young Lions getting Kota help.] Kenny will panic again, since Kota’s been his lifeline for the whole match, and later became critical to Kenny staying in it at all. Kenny is sorta starting to be able to see again, but Okada is still far more agile.

He’ll hit a couple of Rainmakers, and we’ll think it’s over, but then the Young Bucks come out, running toward the ring. Kenny and Okada both freeze in shock, wondering if they’re going to interfere — Kenny’s at his weakest moment now, just like how the Bullet Club tried to sabotage him when he was at his lowest. But they don’t interfere. They take a quick look at Kenny to make sure he’s okay. Then they start trying to help him the way Kota had been.

Okada is making it difficult for the Young Bucks to help Kenny, by trying to separate them from each other. (Like how Cody tried to drive a wedge between the Jackson brothers to keep them from being allies to Kenny.) He’s in complete control, but they’re at least distracting him enough that Kenny has some time to rally. But because of Okada’s control of the ring, they’re not nearly as effective as Kota was, and they and Kenny are getting frustrated and panicked. It looks like stuff is going to fall apart as Kenny barely dodges another Rainmaker.

And they realize then what they have to do. They love Kenny, and they want him to achieve his dream, and they know that in Kenny’s heart and mind, Kota is the key to his victory. They put their pride aside, and get some medics and Young Boys over to help Kota. They leave Kenny to his own devices as they turn their attention to desperately trying to revive Kota. The sight of the Young Bucks caring about and for Kota gives Kenny a shot of adrenaline, and he fights his way back. He hits a One-Winged Angel, but Okada kicks out or gets his foot to the ropes. (Personally I want Kota to remain the only person ever to kick out of One Winged Angel, but it would be a way to keep Okada looking fierce in defeat. I don’t really think he needs it, though.) But the crowd goes nuts thinking it’s the end, and it’s not. The Young Bucks successfully bring Kota back.

But Kenny’s okay now. When he sees that Kota is okay, and that Kota and the Bucks together are there for him, he’s fucking unstoppable. He hits some dramatically symbolic combo of moves; maybe like some Jericho move, or a Rainmaker. And definitely his one-man version of More Bang For Your Buck, a Kamigoye, and a Golden Triangle Moonsault. He doesn’t need their help staying alive anymore, but he uses their love and their belief in him to turn the tide, and he makes pretty short work of Okada. Finally, he hits a One-Winged Angel in the center of the ring, and it’s over.

Postmatch

Kota and the Young Bucks jump into the ring and everyone hugs Kenny. Then they give Kenny his belt, and he excitedly shows it to his bffs and his man. Everyone’s crying.

Amid the celebration, Kenny turns to see a defeated Okada, sitting on the canvas in disbelief, trying to grapple with the unanswerable question of what’s next. And Kenny fucking knows that feel. He walks over to his rival like he’s going to hold the belt over his head, standing triumphant over the man he couldn’t beat for so long.

But he doesn’t gloat. He reaches down and tries to help Okada up. Gedo tries to tell Okada not to take the help, and Okada tries to get up on his own. He falters, and Kenny catches him. He helps Okada to his feet, against Gedo’s objections, and they stand face to face as they have so many times. Again, Kenny gets ready to hold the belt over his head to show Okada he’s not the champ anymore.

But again, he doesn’t. Instead, he bows to Okada, and Okada almost collapses to his knees in grief. Kenny steadies him, and Okada uses the last of his energy to raise Omega’s hand in victory, sobbing, gesturing to the new champion who he cannot deny is deserving and amazing. Okada takes one long last look, not at his rival Omega, but at the belt that came to define him, knowing that it doesn’t anymore, and his biggest fear has come true. He leaves in sorrow, and Omega watches him go, allowing ample space for the crowd to show their appreciation for a man who, belt or no, has ensured history will define him as a champion.

Back to Omega in the ring, still celebrating warmly with Ibushi and the Yong Bucks. He does his promo mostly in Japanese, because over the course of his time in Japan, the amount of Japanese he speaks directly correlates with how face-y he’s being in that moment. He starts by humbly appreciating Okada, who is just about to exit the arena, then goes on some standard babyface stuff about how the victory also belongs to the crowd. He probably says some gay shit about Ibushi, and less-gay but just as loving stuff about the Young Bucks. But of course, he speaks some English too, because he has his eyes set on NJPW’s worldwide expansion. At some point, he says “this is what friendship looks like, and this is what love looks like,” as he did at WrestleCon, except this time he’s gesturing to himself, Ibushi, and the Young Bucks with both statements, because all four of them have learned that there doesn’t have to be a friendship/love dichotomy.

[And because I’m booking this, Kenny then turns to Kota and kisses him, and the Young Bucks hug them as a couple, symbolizing further that they’ve accepted that Kenny doesn’t have to choose between them and Kota, and that what he’s really choosing is his own happiness. The crowd goes wild for True Friendship and True Love, and homophobia dies a little more on this historic day in Pride month of twenty gayteen.]

Kenny puts his arm around Kota’s waist and bows to the crowd, being helped to stay upright. The Young Bucks flank the Golden Lovers, and exuent omnes happily into the sunset/room with the warm beer.

There you go, Anon! I hope you read every stupid word of this :p I would love to hear others’ thoughts on how it’s all going to go down, especially if you have ideas on how to make this EVEN MORE EXTRA and DRAMATIC. If anyone actually read this, thank you so much!!!!!!!!