A Dramatic Dream Match Indeed... Omega vs. CIMA Is On The Horizon

July 13th 2019: AWE comes back to Jacksonville for the first time since the January rally that initially announced “Double or Nothing”. It will be “Fight For The Fallen”, it will go down at Daily's Place Amphitheater, and it will feature a dream match between Kenny Omega and, a modern legend of Japanese professional wrestling, representing OWE's Strong Hearts, the one and only CIMA!

Why is this a dream match you may be asking yourself? What makes this a pairing that fans thought they would never be able to see in their lifetimes? Look at the paths that have led both men to this impending July night in Jax and see how this one-on-one contest is something that once seemed impossible...

Kenny Omega started his professional wrestling journey nearly 20 years ago, plugging away across Canada gaining valuable experience, before finally breaking through the border into the United States in 2006. With exposure in multiple wrestling companies throughout the States, including Pro Wrestling Guerrilla in California, Kenny's name slowly gained value both at live events, on TV, and in the DVD market. His in-ring talents were increasingly appreciated, his unique personality proved to be an attraction, and in 2008 the shores of Japan came a-calling. The relationship that Kenny would build with that land would prove to be most crucial to the future of his professional wrestling career as Omega built his brand ...

On the other side of the Jacksonville coin is CIMA; a student of the legendary Ultimo Dragon, and a man whose career started nearly 25 years ago. In that time, CIMA has been exposed across the globe, from international television as Shiima Nobunaga in the early days of his career, to bouts in Mexico, Japan, the United States, and China. He has captained stables, built promotions, been a trainer and a wrestler, and came to All Elite Wrestling as a member of the Strong Hearts. And although they fell short against SCU at “Double or Nothing”, CIMA and his partners proved more than capable of hanging with the absolute best.

A funny thing looking at the careers of Kenny Omega and CIMA, seeing just how much time the Canadian born competitor spent in Japan, these two men have never been in the same place at the same time; that is until “Double or Nothing”. Unfortunately for both men, that Las Vegas night each of them ate defeat. CIMA, although not the man whose shoulders were put to the mat, saw his Strong Hearts trio beaten in the opening contest by SCU while Omega, in his rematch with Chris Jericho, not only saw the lights at the point of the Judas Effect elbow, but also suffered the wrath of Jon Moxley in the closing moments of “DoN”.

And now that “Fyter Fest” is also in the rear window, and both men came out of their respective matches victorious (The Elite trios battle in Omega's case and Christopher Daniels in CIMA's), the eyes of both men SHOULD be fixed on “Fight For The Fallen”. But that may not be the case...

Now, it is a safe assumption to believe that CIMA has no distractions, nothing else running around in his mind save the competition Kenny will bring to the table on July 13th. The one thing on his mind may be the fact that CIMA, despite being a foundation for so many aspects of Japanese pro wrestling in the last 20 years, will likely enter this contest as the underdog, as the man needing to establish his credentials, despite the many similar roads he and Kenny have traveled. The victory over SCU's Christopher Daniels goes a long way towards establishment, one over Kenny Omega will cement it for this Strong Heart.

As for Kenny, given the closing moments of “Fyter Fest”, how Omega brutally assaulted Jon Moxley after his Unsanctioned Battle with Joey Janela, clearly retribution for the “DoN” attack, it is an unavoidable question of where Kenny's head is at right now. Is he focused on this dream match or instead, to paraphrase Excalibur, “letting his Demon out”, so as to survive a collision with Moxley? The violence Kenny unleashed this past Saturday night may not have been the thumbtacks and barbed wire Moxley & Janela just inflicted on each other, but it showed that Mox is in Omega's head. Come “Fight For The Fallen” though, it is all on Kenny to block that out and focus, focus, focus on CIMA.

At “Fight for the Fallen” on July 13th, Kenny Omega and CIMA will step inside the squared circle for the first time in a dream match most never thought possible. That Jacksonville night, both men will fight for the feeling of victory, the feeling of success, for continued redemption of their losses at “Double or Nothing”, and to ride the momentum of their successes at “Fyter Fest”. But will the specter of Jon Moxley be haunting this dream...

You can watch it unfold, as well as The Young Bucks vs. Cody & Dustin Rhodes, Allie vs. Brandi Rhodes, and more, as “Fight For The Fallen”, presented by Farah & Farah, unfolds on B/R Live absolutely FREE at 7:30pm EST!!