Kenny Omega has spoken about a WWE opening match that he feels was underrated by the critics.
Kenny Omega is known for his reputation for trying to put on the best match possible every time he steps in the ring and already had a reputation of being a top draw based on his days in NJPW when he became one of the EVPs during the forming of AEW. Whilst critics such as Wrestling Observer writer, Dave Meltzer, have greatly praised Kenny Omega, being one of the few names involved in matches that have broken Meltzer’s five-star rating system, Omega has been critical of one particular rating.
The match in question featured two of the very best to step foot in the ring and yet perhaps surprisingly, they were featured in a WWE opening match when they were already established as thus. Speaking on his Twitch channel, thecleanerscorner, Kenny Omega broke down the opening match from SummerSlam 2002 between Rey Mysterio and Kurt Angle.
“This match was never meant to be a five-star match. There’s also a thing called building a card and a lot of promotions, they disagree with that structuring method because they believe that every time you go out to the ring, you should maximise your time and have the best match possible. But what this match did, in a perfect way, was set the tone for the rest of the card.”
However, ‘The Cleaner’ did state that he never felt it was a five-star match either but that this was not so much a criticism but rather an explanation of knowing what your position on a card is.
“What should have been a four-star match became one of the best opening matches of all time. So that becomes recommended and mandatory viewing. Anyone who wants to get into the business and learn how to do your job as an opening match wrestler or if you’re in the position of being in the opener.”
Omega went on to say how he didn’t agree with the ratings from various online critics and felt it could not be compared to matches that had received similar critique.
“Was that match snubbed a little bit from Cage Match or from Dave (Meltzer) or whatever? I mean, from my viewpoint, yeah! I mean, you compare another 3.75 match from Dave to that?! And the athleticism is on a complete other level. The psychology is on a complete other level. The amount of understanding of the characters and their motivations on a complete other level. And this is why, for me… I do think Kurt Angle is the greatest… the most complete wrestler of all time. He’s my favourite.”
The Match Kenny Omega Worked Injured
A match loved match amongst AEW fans involved Kenny Omega facing off against tag team partner, ‘Hangman’ Page it may have been. However, what’s more impressive were the reports that Omega worked the entire match injured and it’s certainly a feather in cap of his overall abilities.
Addressing his star rating system, Dave Meltzer had an interesting take on WWE matches.
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