Professional wrestler Kenny Omega, real name Tyson Smith, made his long-awaited return to Japan with a major shout-out to Sephiroth, the lead villain from classic role-playing game Final Fantasy VII. Omega made his entrance in the Tokyo Dome for New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Wrestle Kingdom 17 event on Jan. 4 dressed as Sephiroth with the character’s theme song “One Winged Angel” playing him out.
The ornate entrance was worthy of the grand stage of Wrestle Kingdom, one of the biggest wrestling events of the year in front of over 20,000 people.
Omega’s entrance was in sync with the big screen showing Sephiroth’s iconic single black wing. It was a big get to have Omega come out to “One Winged Angel.” His old entrance music “Devil’s Sky” was heavily inspired by the FFVII track, but he never had the chance to enter to the real thing until today.
This is the first full-capacity Tokyo Dome show for New Japan since 2020 and Omega’s first New Japan match since 2019 where he faced Hiroshi Tanahashi in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 13.
The All Elite Wrestling star battled with rival Will Ospreay for the IWGP United States Championship. After a grueling 35-minute match, Omega emerged as the new champion.
The video game references extend beyond this Wrestle Kingdom entrance. His signature move, a knee strike, is named the V-Trigger after the mechanic from Street Fighter. Omega has entered the ring as Sans The Skeleton from Undertale and Akuma from Street Fighter, among others. He’s an avid gamer who’s an integral part of the upcoming AEW Fight Forever game and has appeared at various fighting game events like CEO and EVO Japan.
