With rumors circulating for well over a year about Kenny Omega joining the ranks of the WWE, and after a couple of weeks of back-and-forth jabs being thrown via Twitter, it was revealed that the fans will get a dream match for the ages on January 4th, 2018. Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega will face each other at NJPW’s Wrestle Kingdom 12 in the Tokyo Dome for Omega’s IWGP United States Championship. There are many things floating around the web surrounding this crème de la crème match, but the question that begs for an answer: is there more going on here? This reveal of this match leaves folks like me wondering what truly is happening. Maybe looking into the years leading up to this match will help us answer some of the questions for ourselves. Analyzing the interactions that both NJPW and WWE have had with other companies can help us gain some perspective on their respective business models. And yes, I am bringing up business because a match of this caliber is best for both businesses in my opinion. But first, let us take a look at the tale of the tape.

Despite Jericho stating multiple times over the years that he would only wrestle for WWE, it is obvious now that such is not the case. We have already witnessed an attempted invasion of RAW in Ontario, CA by the Young Bucks, Kenny Omega’s running buddies in The Elite, who also call New Japan home. This “invasion” that saw the Bullet Club show up in front of the Citizens Business Bank Arena led to former creative writer and longtime indie wrestling star Jimmy Jacobs, to be terminated for taking a selfie. It seemed innocent enough at first, but the photo taken with Cody Rhodes, Adam “Hangman” Page, and Marty Scurll led directly to the ousting of Jacobs from the ranks of WWE.

We are now aware that the Young Bucks will be one of the headlining acts at Jericho’s Rock N Roll Wrestling Rager at Sea. When the short Twitter war between Jericho and Omega began, speculation abounded that they were building to a match that would take place on this cruise ship event that Jericho happens to funding himself. Instead, as seen in the video above, the ante was upped significantly and it has become Alpha vs. Omega at the Tokyo Dome. The Young Bucks call Ring of Honor and New Japan their respective North American and Japanese homes.

Signing The Bucks to wrestle on his cruise is what most likely what set Jericho on this path of working with other promotions, especially NJPW, which ran a pair of events in the U.S. on July 1st and 2nd and just announced that they will return on March 25th. The July events sold out faster than a bullet from a gun and you can expect the same when tickets are announced for a venue almost double the size in March.

One of the rumors that I want to address here is Chris Jericho’s contract status. Jericho is NOT presently under contract with WWE. So, this match should be no indication of a feud with the company that was his bread and butter, mainstay for 18 years. One important thing to remember here is that if Jericho competes at WrestleMania in 2018, and I believe he will, the self-proclaimed “Greatest of All-Time” would be only the third wrestler in history to wrestle at both WWE’s and NJPW’s marquee events. The first to do this was AJ Styles in 2016, followed by Cody Rhodes who participated at WrestleMania in 2016 and Wrestle Kingdom in 2017. I would also like to reiterate that Jericho, in doing this match, is returning to NJPW at its most explosive period in many, many years.

So, what’s the big deal about Kenny Omega? I have been asked by many of my personal friends why I subscribe to more than just the monopolized WWE product of the states. My answer is this: I remember the days of territories and how they fed the true talent to the major promotions. I remember, as a kid, getting the opportunity to see dream matches across promotions. This is what this match as well as WWE’s acquisition of Styles, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows is all about to me. Omega himself mentioned in his promo regarding Jericho’s challenge that he himself always felt that he would bring NJPW to the world stage. I honestly believe that he will. I also want to give those of you who may not follow as hardcore as I do some insight on who this man, The End, The Omega is.

Kenny Omega is such an avid gamer that he took his ring name and his dubbed his finishing move based on the Final Fantasy video game series. Omega pays homage to the Omega Weapon as well as Sephiroth with his One-Winged Angel. The video game appearances in the squared circle continue as, especially in his earlier years, he would often execute a Street Fighter style Hadouken as part of his repertoire. He has actually competed against Xavier Woods at the World Series of Gaming and frequently uploads gaming clips to his YouTube channel. But there is much more to this NJPW superstar.

For starters, he is straight edge just like Daniel Bryan and CM Punk. He was the first non-Japanese wrestler to win the G1 Climax, New Japan’s weeks long round robin tournament. Andre The Giant and Hulk Hogan are the only two other foreigners to win New Japan’s biggest tournament (in 1982 and 1983 respectively), but those wins were long before it became the massive event it is today. No matter how you look at it, that’s some incredible company to be rubbing shoulders with. Since 2012, winning the G1 Climax is essentially the equivalent to the Royal Rumble as the winner goes on to challenge the IWGP Heavyweight Champion at Wrestle Kingdom, NJPW’s analogue of WrestleMania.

Speaking of Wrestle Kingdom, at the 11th edition, Kenny and Kazuchika Okada, who was the IWGP Heavyweight Champion then and will continue his reign until at least Wrestle Kingdom 12, were awarded a 6-star match according to wrestling’s premier journalist Dave Meltzer. In what feels like another lifetime altogether, Omega actually wrestled a blow up doll and a little girl in the past, when he called the DDT promotion his home in Japan. Omega himself admitted on Talk is Jericho, that the latter was one of his favorite matches of all time. Yes, you caught that right, Omega already has, at the very least, and amicable relationship with Chris Jericho, which makes their Twitter battle seem even less like a “shoot” in retrospect.

Believe it or not, Omega was part of WWE developmental at one time, wrestling in Deep South Wrestling from October 2005 until August 2006. He stated that he left the company due to the cliquish nature of WWE and its backstage politics, citing Bill DeMott, Jody Hamilton and Bob Holly specifically as difficult to work with. According to Kenny, there were fellow developmental superstars whom became friendly with DeMott outside of work and became DeMott’s buddies. When calls came down from WWE for recommendations of who to move up, Kenny stated DeMott would refer his friends, regardless of their level of ability in the ring or out. This left a sour taste in Omega’s mouth as he briefly considered leaving professional wrestling and pursued a career in MMA, but it lasted for less than a month. It was a farewell match for AJ Styles in the PCW promotion, which Omega considered to be a temporary return, that he credits with falling head over heels in love with the sport he had almost left behind and he has never looked back.

The announcement of the match between Omega and Jericho has blown open the thoughts in my brain of a subject that I have been considering for approximately two years. The globalization of WWE through the acquisition of smaller promotions throughout the world. In essence, going back to what made wrestling admirable, entertaining, and most of all able to create a sense of competitiveness between regions and promotions. Different cultures and values are what make the promotions of America, Mexico, and Japan so different. But you can even compare many aspects of Combat Zone Wrestling to the WWE product and you feel like you are watching a completely foreign product.

I am basing my thought process on the idea that the return of a system reminiscent of the old territories may be on the horizon. There have been rumors of mergers between companies, in recent memory there was even a rumor that WWE was considering buying Ring of Honor. It turned out to be a discussion about content that never materialized, but it was something that people legitimately believed was possible based on the climate of wrestling today.

It is no shock that the globalization of the WWE brand is at an all time high. We have witnessed growth in the U.K. and India. This is supported by the recently minted United Kingdom Championship with a speculated 5th brand via the WWE Network. We also see this with the WWE Championship ending up on the shoulder of Jinder Mahal in what is, in my opinion, a purely political championship reign. It has included two trips back to the nation of his descent, one oh which resulted in the signing of two Indian women to WWE developmental contracts .

With this level of expansion already taking place it could possibly be in NJPW’s best interest to be “with” the WWE or suffer the possible collapse of the promotions all together. It is no secret that Vince always gets what he wants, one way or another. The benefits of such an alliance are already being seen in the various independent companies such as Evolve, ICW and Progress, all of which have formed working relationships as part of the WWE coalition. Not only do they receive recognition from the industry’s top brand, but also likely some financial assistance and the occasional promotional crossover matches.

In early 2014, Ring of Honor and New Japan announced a working relationship that continues to this day. In August 2015 it was announced that New Japan stalwart and Japanese legend Jushin Thunder Liger would appear at WWE’s NXT Takeover: Brooklyn event. ROH was running an event using New Japan talent the same night as the NXT show, right in the same borough, hosting a Field of Honor event in the Brooklyn Cyclones’ baseball stadium.

Details of the transaction that led to the Liger vs. Tyler Breeze match were hush hush. Paul “HHH” Levesque actually denied trying to interfere in the NJPW/ROH relationship, but included an important phrase while making said denial: “I will do what’s best for business even if it interferes with another business model, because I have to worry about my own business model.” This comment came only a few days after it was announced that Liger would be present at Takeover. To note, ROH had announced New Japan talent for their Brooklyn show months before any of this took place, but we have no idea when negotiations began for the Liger appearance.

This marked the first time that WWE worked with any promotion from Japan in many years. Was this the beginning of the joining of the two mega promotions from two sides of the globe? According to reports, ROH was completely unaware of the booking and in my opinion this is even low by wrestling standards. A legitimate double cross! It should be noted that at the time, as he often is, Liger was under a contract that allowed him to take bookings anywhere but, it should also be noted that NJPW was actively promoting his upcoming appearance in NXT. There was speculation that this booking was partially related to ROH putting out an action figure of Kevin Owens as his ROH persona Kevin Steen, clearly as a way to capitalize on his recent debut on WWE television. Only the Authority knows the answer to this question as I am sure this was discussed behind closed doors and not many were privy to the information, and surely there was much more to it than that.

It has already been confirmed, as I stated above, that WWE had talks with Ring of Honor about their tape library. Other rumors include a possible bid for WWE to buy out Impact Wrestling. Between that rumor and the speculation at the time that WWE was looking to buy ROH, not just some content, that their goal was to shut down both promotions and use their tape libraries as an addition to the WWE Network. That is an unsubstantiated claim at best.

With the recent invasion of the Young Bucks, the acquisitions of various wrestlers such Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Neville, Seth Rollins and countless others from the independent wrestling scene, I feel that this would be suicide for WWE, which has grown so large that they need the smaller promotions to feed the roster of today. It’s especially important with NXT essentially serving as a third brand behind RAW and SmackDown, not just as a stepping stone between the indies and big stage of the main roster. Is it possible that WWE showing their ability to bully a company like Ring of Honor was a play at trying to get New Japan to play ball with them instead of the promotion that is effectively the second largest wrestling operation in North America? Maybe NJPW and ROH were already thinking about working with WWE since Vince and company were already raiding talent left and right from everywhere imaginable, including them, who are ostensibly the second and third biggest wrestling companies in the world.

In December of 2016, President of Bushiroad (parent company of NJPW) Takaaki Kidani spoke about this exact possible partnership, at least with WWE in the future. He was not opposed to the idea of joining forces. He openly stated, “You are either with WWE or against them.” Kidani acknowledges WWE’s next generation star shortage and realizes that they have the financial ability to milk from any single promotion that they see fit. Kidani wants to use this as his angle into a WWE cooperative. In 2016 alone, NJPW saw the loss of Shinsuke Nakamura, AJ Styles, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows. If NJPW is this open about their relationship and continues their already strong relationship with ROH, couldn’t all three in essence become key players in a globalized, territorial, wrestling dream come true? It would be especially exciting for those of us old enough to remember the days of grainy footage of the NWA, WCCW, and AWA.

This move would carry the weight of decades of irony. It is so similar, if this is the plan, to what Vince McMahon himself destroyed, with the final realization of his dream coming with the fall of WCW, the final competitor he had left after the territory system was disbanded piece-by-piece.

In a nutshell, WWE would be going away from the McMahon model of monopolization and instead liquidating back into a system of smaller areas that would all be part of a much bigger whole entity. The main difference here is that this would be global instead of limited to North America. This, if true, could go a long way in eliminating the monotony of dry storylines and limited character development that pervades today’s WWE product. For this to be successful, each territory would have to be guided by an affiliated promoter or booker but not directly governed by WWE and their creative process. This would allow WWE to not only secure TV time for their own newly integrated territories, but they could also put an even bigger emphasis on social media and the internet as a whole, which is how most smaller promotions disseminate their products anyway.

I think this would offer a reset button to the entire professional wrestling industry worldwide. A much needed change, in my opinion. And in the words of Randy Savage, “The cream always rises to the top!”