Former world champion and executive Kenny Omega is one of the men who put the “Elite” in All Elite Wrestling, but the house he, The Young Bucks, and Cody Rhodes built together is not where he earned the name “The Best Bout Machine.” For that origin story, you have to cross the Pacific Ocean.
Omega established his reputation in New Japan Pro Wrestling via his matches with Kazuchika Okada and his membership in Bullet Club, so that his where he not only returned, but also promised to have his first match back once he has been given a clean bill of health.
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The BBB took time off from the ring for the bout of his life against diverticulitis in 2023. He made sporadic appearances this year on Dynamite, mostly addressing his health and his in-ring future, although he took part in an angle to set up a feud down the line with his old friends – Okada and The Bucks.
However, if a program materializes out of that, it will be a long way off as Omega is putting AEW aside for the time being to go home in a sense. He decided to give his time and focus to New Japan in the interim, which is a controversial move the former IWGP Heavyweight Champion recently explained.
Kenny Omega explains choosing to return first with NJPW over AEW
“Yeah, the way I look at it is a lot of people, not only in Japan, but internationally, they never knew who I was until I did big things in New Japan. So I really do owe New Japan a gigantic thank you,” he said in an interview with Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.
Omega continued, “I do feel that there’s a debt I have to repay in some way, shape, form, or fashion. And I think that if performing at the Tokyo Dome, by making my comeback at the Tokyo Dome, is a way to help repay that, if it can help something for their business, then I’m more than happy to do that.”
As for AEW and why he is deciding to keep his fellow Elites and their fans waiting, Omega believes his move is harmless and that the company is in a good place right now without him on TV. “And I’m sure naturally the next question is, why not AEW first? That is the company that I helped create, that is the company that I’m contracted to,” he explained.
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“It makes sense. It’s tough to answer, because why not AEW? There’s nothing wrong with AEW at all. I mean, if you watch any of the episodes of our TV recently, everything is flowing like clockwork right now,” he added. “I feel like there’s a spot for all of the hard-working men and women that are on those shows.”
Omega went on to say, “They’ve all worked incredibly hard to earn their spots and keep their spots. And I feel like if I just kind of showed up and said, ‘Hey guys, I’m back, so one of you is going to have to be done.’ I just don’t want to be that guy.”
Despite that apprehension of stealing a spot, he is open to walking through the tunnel on Dynamite again if the timing is right. “So I feel like when there’s an opportunity again, when there’s a chance, sure, I’d love to be back if you guys can have me. But right now, I feel like AEW has got a good thing going. I don’t think they need me. So I’ll make my return to New Japan instead…for now,” he said.
Kenny Omega is trying to be humble and giving, which is all well and good, but his comments are being met with skepticism by at least one analyst. Jason Solomon, host of the popular podcast Solomonster Sounds Off, had a befuddled and critical reaction to Omega’s words on a recent edition of his show.
Jason Solomon bashes Kenny Omega’s odd decision
While he can understand wanting to do New Japan “a solid” for putting Omega on the map, Solomon believes the notion that AEW is running “like clockwork” is “delusional.” Said Solomon, “But this idea that everything is firing on all cylinders right now in AEW, and they don’t need him right now, is one of the most asinine things that I have heard in a very long time.”
He added, “You may think that AEW gets unfair criticism and they do. You may think that AEW has a lot of good things going right now, and they do. They have some good things going right now, but to say that there is nothing wrong at all with AEW, it’s like he’s living in Candy Land.”
Solomon notes he has been a fan since the beginning of 2019 and that he watches Dynamite every week, but he can’t ignore the “half-empty buildings.’’ Nor can he overlook the fact that AEW can’t come close to selling out the Wintrust Arena in Chicago anymore.
The 10,000-seat building in one of the US’s hottest towns for wrestling is often considered the Jacksonville-based AEW’s home away from home. Usually, they draw good numbers in that area and have since the first All-In – although that was held at Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, just outside The Windy City. But these days, they can barely bring in 2,000 people for the Dynamite after Full Gear.
Both AEW and NJPW are experiencing dips in their business, and if anything, the former “needs him now more than ever,” Solomon says, as their product is “ice cold.”