We’ve all had our dream matches, right? Ones that we finally got to see happen, like “Stone Cold” Steve Austin vs Kevin Owens, The Rock vs John Cena, Kurt Angle vs Zack Sabre Jr., Tyrus vs Trevor Murdoch, Disco Inferno vs his entire existence…
But ladies, gentlemen, and everyone across the spectrum, Kenny Omega and El Hijo Del Vikingo will be set to have their long-anticipated match that had been postponed for the longest time.
Time for a confession: I’ve not seen a full match of Vikingo’s. Just his various clips. I hear that the stories he tells in the ring are as great as his performances, though. I’m totally stoked to see that live. Hell, I’m tempted to watch his match with Rey Fenix at Triplemania XXX: Mexico City from 2022 once I’m done writing this. And had I not known of his name and clips – virtually nothing – I would still be intrigued to see what he is capable of. Probably because his name is badass as hell and he looks cool as hell.
So here’s the story, right: In August of 2021, this match was supposed to happen in AAA’s Triplemania Regia for the AAA Mega Championship, but Omega had to vacate it and take time off for the severe injuries he accrued over his career. Since then, Vikingo’s been chasing that white whale, and now, so has Omega.
In Independence, Missouri’s Cable Dahmer Arena on March 22, 2023, we finally get that match. It’s been a long time coming. All Elite Wrestling and AAA have worked out to make this dream match happen.
Why? Well look at them! Kenny Omega’s success has been well-documented, in America, England, Japan, and Mexico! We know his many successes – his series against Kazuchika Okada, his story with Kota Ibushi in The Golden Lovers, and his time as The Cleaner saw him clean up NJPW’s Junior Heavyweight Championship and absolutely make the IWGP U.S. Championship what it is.
If you as a wrestling fan need any indication as to how great Omega is, I myself have documented his amazing match against Will Ospreay at this year’s Wrestle Kingdom 17 Night One.
Omega has also become a huge factor in AEW, being a triple-crown champion after winning the company’s Tag Team Championship, Heavyweight Champion, and Trios Champion, he’s held Impact and TNA gold, and as mentioned earlier, the AAA Mega belt once adorned his waist. He’s known for his performances of high speed and brutality and creativity. The storytelling in his work-rate, body language, and melodrama.
Pure magic, every time.
But El Hijo del Vikingo, some of us might not know as much of – and we damn well should. His reputation is well-established and crops up in many discussions as to who is great or not. Said reputation makes this match feel a must-watch.
Perhaps you’ve seen his clips running around social media or YouTube of the feats that Vikingo accomplishes in the ring, it’s breathtaking. It’s unnatural. There’s something in him that can’t be replicated and he knows it. He has a universal charisma, no matter what languages he speaks or not.
At 2022’s Triplemania XXX: Mexico City, Vikingo received acclaim in his triumph over Rey Fenix, on the same night that Pentagon Jr. defeated Villano IV in a memorable bloodbath. To have that much love to equal a match that had so much weight, Vikingo was an important ingredient.
I’m not someone who touts what critics think, but there is a reason VIkingo regularly places high on lists for the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Sports Illustrated, and Pro Wrestling Illustrated. He’s held two AAA championships and won four tournaments, won Warrior Wrestling’s Warrior Wrestling Lucha Championship (which he currently still holds at the time of writing), and he’s won Impact’s 2019 World Cup of Wrestling.
The skill of Vikingo is unbelievable. He doesn’t move like most people – just like Kenny Omega. When he started in 2017, he didn’t stand out much but after a while, he quickly overcame that and now it’s hard to not notice him. His look, his agility, his charisma – and he’s still fresh as hell at the ripe age of twenty-five at the time of writing. The fact this young man has accomplished so much in the lucha scene in such a short time shows how big he’s going to be.
He and Omega are the type of talents that fans think of that really accentuate the excellence that pro wrestling is. They make everything look so easy and fluid, but these are men who honed and fine-tuned their bodies and senses to move to such a degree that should feel impossible – but again, they make it look easy.
And though this simple story of making up for lost time is a great premise, sometimes when competitors face off for the first time, a story isn’t always needed. Sometimes what we need is people we want to see wrestle each other, wrestle each other. We never know what the future holds, if we ever get these dream matches or not, so we better take them while we got them and take them with the stories that do have builds, both big and small.
Otherwise, we’ll forever be chasing the white whale of what could have been if not. And then, we’ll be lucky to get a story starting from this first encounter. I hope everyone that reads this, everyone that watches the match revels in what could be a fantastic first chapter of a potential wrestling feud.
Perhaps I’m not selling enough the importance of this match. This is Bret Hart vs Kurt Angle. This is Undertaker vs Sting. This is John Cena vs “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. This is a story of a girl who cried a river and drowned the whole world, and while she looks so sad in photographs, I absolutely love her when she smiles.
This is what dreams are made of. This is Kenny Omega vs El Hijo del Vikingo. Let’s enjoy this opening of the forbidden door, shall we?
