Wrestler Cosplays as Sephiroth at Japan’s Biggest Wrestling Competition, Comes Out to One Winged Angel
Kenny Omega may be argued as one of professional wrestling’s greatest talents, but he is undoubtedly one of the most dedicated gamers in the sport, having reached the recent finals at Wrestle Kingdom in Japan. Fantasy 7’s tribute to Sephiroth proves it.
At the biggest event of the year in Japan’s huge professional wrestling market, the former AEW World Champion Canadian was in attendance to take on England’s Will Ospreay for the IWGP US Heavyweight Championship.
Omega entered the match wearing a costume reminiscent of Sephiroth and headed to the ring as the iconic one-winged angel theme played in the background.
🔥Tokyo Dome Tournament WRESTLE KINGDOM 17🔥
Double Main Event I US Heavyweight Championship Match 🇺🇸@KennyOmegamanX I’m back 👉💥
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⇒https://t.co/z1DNREh66D#njpw #wk17 pic.twitter.com/rJTatJHiiS—njpwworld (@njpwworld) January 4, 2023
Kenny Omega, real name Tyson Smith, took his ring name from Final Fantasy’s Omega Weapon and used a final move called the One-Winged Angel for a good portion of his long career. That said, this cosplay isn’t without context.
Smith used other components of video games such as Street Fighter as part of his repertoire to taunt his opponents. Alex’s It offers a move called the signature “You Can’t Escape!” V-Trigger Knee Strike.
Professional wrestling has been popular in Japan since at least the 1950s, and since 1992 there has been an annual wrestling show at the Tokyo Dome on January 4th. It was a main event and soon moved to America’s All Elite Wrestling.
In this previous appearance, he entered the Ring of Hopes and Dreams from the Undertale soundtrack, wearing a costume partially inspired by the Deltarune protagonist.
Kenny Omega is a Pro Wrestling Illustrated Top 500 performer and has been rated the number one wrestler twice in his career.
If you’d like to see his latest Final Fantasy-themed performance in full, New Japan’s subscription service NJPW World is available for 999 yen (about $7.50) per month.
Matt Jones is IGN’s UK Social Coordinator and returns to Pumpkin at midnight.
