Kenny Omega (c) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi 04/01/2019

This was Kenny's 4th defense of the IWGP heavyweight championship in his one and only reign with the title.

The end of an era. And not the fraudulent one like they did at WrestleMania 28. An actual end of one of the greatest runs of any wrestler that I have ever seen in my lifetime. The wrestler being Kenny Omega. And what a fitting match to do it!!! I say it time and time again that Hiroshi Tanahashi is the greatest wrestler to ever live and he is as usual, phenomenal here but goddamn this match is as good as it is because of Kenny Omega. This is the greatest performance of his career. And one of the greatest performances I have seen from a wrestler in a match ever.

The match is built upon the clash of two wrestling ideologies. Kenny was out to change the world, to bring a revolution while Tana, the man who believed in preserving his image of this sacred sport. In that sense, no one truly is wrong here. It is important that we continue to evolve as that is the thing that is essential for the survival of the human race but it is also equally important that we remember where we’ve come from, our roots. They left us to choose whose vision we believe in. Tana came into this match after a career resurgence in an incredible WOTY run in 2018 while Kenny also had one of his best runs aside from a slightly underwhelming title reign. Kenny omega’s vision of pro wrestling is truly fascinating and unique and something no one else has really thought of. But that doesn't work for Tana. He is out to take NJPW back from Kenny in true ace fashion. They have disdain for each other’s philosophies but that’s what makes this so compelling. Kenny is outright mean and disrespectful to Tana. He brutalises the ace. But this match is much more about just the work. The work is sharp laser focused. Kenny's strikes are insane. His control segments over Tana are brutal. What he(his character) forgets in this story that Kenny the wrestler is not known for doing the “I hate you, you hate me” stories and matches but in trying to humiliate Tana and his ideology, he goes to that conventional form of wrestling and he actually falls into his own trap and that's where he lost this battle. This guy is a fucking genius. Like I said, this is the most conventional match that Kenny has ever wrestled in his life and it's still a part of his unique style of storytelling because it's his character whose ego gets in his way so much that he forgets that he actually believes in. From mocking Tana's mentor Muto with the flashing elbow to mocking Tana himself by doing his slingblade and the high fly flow he adds these touches to enhance the match.

Tana on the other hand does what he believes in. He stays true to himself. He even considers using the table once but doesn't. When he actually does, it costs him his comeback. The story resembles the stories of the Tanahashi vs Okada matches from IA and KOPW. Except this time Tana doesn't repeat his mistakes. He's learned and he believes in what he knows about wrestling. And that's how he prevails. The power of perseverance comes out on top in one of the most emotional moments for me as a Wrestling fan ever because this is the first time I watched the greatest wrestler to ever live win the IWGP heavyweight championship as it happened. What a beautiful match!! What a beautiful story!!!! GO ACE.

On this rewatch finally I am sure that this is the 2019 Match of the year. Kenny Omega bids farewell to NJPW in true Kenny fashion with another all time great performance. He hasn’t topped this match since and I don't know if he ever will but even if he doesn't, it's nothing to sad about because this is an all time classic and those don't happen everyday. Kenny started this run with one of the greatest IWGP intercontinental championship matches ever and ends it with one of the greatest IWGP heavyweight championship matches ever.