Don Callis: Omega Vs. Jericho Is The Most Important Wrestling Match Of 21st Century

Don Callis and his new protege Konosuke Takeshita have been garnering some of the wildest reactions in All Elite Wrestling as of late, with Callis' betrayal of Kenny Omega pushing him into a new stratosphere of villainy. Appearing on "Talk is Jericho" alongside Takeshita, Callis discussed his lengthy history with Omega, and it wasn't long before the topic of Omega's Tokyo Dome match against Jericho came up — with Callis having plenty to say on the importance of the bout.

"I think what is true, Chris, is — I think that might be the most important wrestling match of the 21st century, because of what it did," Callis said. "It broke down a lot of barriers. It did create this incredible juggernaut that is All Elite Wrestling." Jericho then pointed out that the match also helped NJPW, Omega, Jericho, and Callis himself.

"I'm not gonna sit here and say that I'm responsible for Kenny Omega being a great video gamer," Callis continued. "I'm not. I'm not here to tell you that I'm responsible for Kenny Omega being kind to animals. I'm not, even though I support that. Here [are] the things I'm responsible for: [the] bottom line is he asked me to come to New Japan and help him to strategize. Even though I was an announcer, I helped him with strategy for the Okada match. He only wins the IWGP title when I'm with him in New Japan, because Kenny needs someone like me to make the difficult decisions."

Omega and Jericho's match took place in early 2018, and it's undeniable the bout played a role in the radical shift of the wrestling landscape over the years that followed. Callis has been open about the fact that he was the integral factor in bringing the match to life, and the AEW performer laid out the chain of events that eventually made it happen.

"I'm glad we're here with [Chris Jericho]," Callis said. "Because when I sit there and say I leveraged a 30-year friendship with you, Chris Jericho, maybe the greatest of all time, in order to help Kenny, people go, 'Ah, yeah, bulls***,' you know that's true." Jericho confirmed that Callis was the one to call him and pitch the idea of the match. Callis laid out why Omega was worth it for Jericho, and by the end of the conversation, Jericho agreed to the match on the condition that Callis would broker the deal with NJPW.

When it took place, the Wrestle Kingdom match was Jericho's first outside of WWE since an independent memorial show in 2000. Omega won the No Disqualification bout against Jericho, but Jericho would get a win back over Omega the following year at the very first AEW event — Double or Nothing in 2019. The two men have shared a ring multiple times since, but those are the only two singles matches on record between Omega and Jericho for the time being.