My Favorite Wrestler (This Week): Okada, Omega, War Machine, more

Editor’s note: The results of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Dominion show are written about in this column.

This week in wrestling, WWE held a PPV with some extreme rules, Impact aired from India, and NJPW Dominion! Here are our favorite wrestlers this week. Who’s yours?

This week’s panel —

Kazuchika Okada and Kenny Omega

By Joseph Currier

I’m writing this only hours after Dominion went off the air and there’s no way I’ll be able to write anything that does Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega justice.

This will probably be more divisive than their Tokyo Dome match. Understandably, a lot of people aren’t fans of 60-minute draws. I probably liked the rematch more than the original (which I didn’t quite have at a six-star rating despite thinking it was great), but I like draws and believe the degree of difficulty is much greater in them. Okada and Omega put on a classic that is at least at the same level of a match that seemed impossible to equal going into it.

The finish was somewhat disappointing for me at first, then I realized pretty quickly that it was mostly because I was so invested in Omega winning the title. I was also disappointed that Cody Rhodes seems to be getting the shot at Okada’s title in Long Beach, but it was probably unwise to ever think that NJPW wouldn’t complete the trilogy on a show in Japan where it can help boost ticket sales.

There’s more story to tell here. Okada didn’t get the second win that he felt like he needed and Omega still isn’t IWGP Heavyweight Champion. I wouldn’t be that shocked if they managed to top themselves again the next time they meet.

War Machine

By Zach Dominello

My favorite wrestler(s) this week is War Machine. Or should I say Paw Machine? Raymond Rowe and Hanson did an interview on NJPW World, which you can watch for free here, to promote their IWGP tag team title match at NJPW Dominion.

The interview itself is fairly straightforward with Hanson and Rowe discussing their opponents and what it means to wrestle in Japan, but what makes it the best thing ever is that it takes place in what I believe to be a cat cafe in Japan.

I never knew this, but there is nothing better than two massive, bearded pro wrestlers cuddling little kitties. Throughout the interview, cats are walking all over Hanson and Rowe like they run the place, which I guess they do because they’re cats. Watching Hanson hand-feed some kitties is the most adorable thing you will ever see.  

And that’s why Paw Machine are my favorite wrestlers this week. Oh, and they’re a pretty dang fantastic tag team too and I’ve loved their work in New Japan. But mainly the kitties.

The entire ATTACK! Pro Wrestling roster

By Alan Boon

Yeah, I realize that’s not a wrestler, per se, rather a whole load of them. But I couldn’t separate any individual from the considerable herd that were responsible for last Friday’s Press 5tart, at the Secret Bingo Hall in Cathays, Cardiff.

Press 5tart is ATTACK!’s yearly tribute to video games, and the roster get to dress up as — and behave like — characters from their favorite games. This year, however, because of a glitch in the system —  as a result of, well, explaining it won’t really help so just go with there being a glitch — they did not portray those video game characters but rather each other.

This wasn’t a simple dress-up job — the wrestlers adopted the outfits, movesets, catchphrases, and mannerisms of their peers, and while it was still simple to see who was who — especially when the masked wrestlers kept those masks on regardless of whether they were playing their masked or unmasked counterparts — they did an amazing job of making everything seem like it had gone that little bit weird(er). 

I’ve occasionally come across this kind of undertaking in the odd match, but to commit to a whole show — and the music, ring announcer, and ring crew all played along — is admirable in the extreme.

That ATTACK! are in position to do this — their shows routinely sell out 200-300 seat venues without a single match being announced — is a testament to their reputation as one of British (and worldwide) independent wrestling’s best.

Yes, there isn’t a single favorite wrestler this week, there’s 24 of them: Chris Brookes, Kid Lykos, Lloyd Katt, Splits McPins, Danny Jones, Beano, Brendan White, Drew Parker, Elijah Dahl, Chuck Mambo, Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate, Ryan Smile, Kyle Fletcher, Mike Bird, Wild Boar, Mark Andrews, Flash Morgan Webster, Eddie Dennis, Travis Banks, Jim Hunter, Damian Dunne, Super Santos Jr., and Lee Hunter. Thanks guys.