Kenny Omega Says He Could Have Worked ROH / NJPW G1 Supercard, Why He Didn't
AEW's Kenny Omega recently spoke with POST Wrestling to promote his new documentary, Omega Man: A Wrestling Love Story. Among many other things, Omega talked about blurring the lines between fantasy and reality in professional wrestling. Also, Omega weighed in on his lifelong love affair with the country of Japan and whether he will collaborate with New Japan Pro-Wrestling in the future.
According to Omega, he loves blurring fantasy and reality sometimes with storylines like his NJPW feud with pro wrestling legend Chris Jericho, but things like being unable to be seen in public with Golden Lover partner, Kota Ibushi, because of the Japanese pro wrestling culture made him wish they could be more open with fans.
"There are times I really enjoy playing a certain role," Omega said. "For example, I had the big story with Chris Jericho and that was a huge blurring of lines and no one really knew what would come of it or what it would become. And for me, it was an exciting, exciting time of my career because we made people believe again and we made people really excited in something they haven't seen in a long time. So that was one situation where I love this and I could live in this world forever or for as long as I'm a performer. But for the case of me and Ibushi, it's like we had this – wow – six-year hiatus where we're not even involved in the same storylines, yet we're not expected to talk to each other; we can't be seen in public together. That's sort of where we could draw the line, potentially, where it's like we're not even involved with one another, so why is there this unspoken rule where we can't speak to one another. Why can't we be seen in public with one another? But that is the culture. That is the [pro] wrestling culture there and it's either take it or leave it. And that's how it is. It's different from how it is in America or how it is from Canada, but the Japanese wrestling style is a style that I love and I decided to make Japan my home, the base of my career at that time, so you've got to take the good with the bad."
Even though there are not many more accolades left for 'The Omega Man' to accomplish in Japan, the presence of that other world will remain close to him and he hopes to continue to perform there until he retires from professional wrestling.
"I mean, I have a sentimental attachment to the country, and the people, of course, and to the see the amount of joy as something as simple as one of my matches can bring to a person in that country. That's really important to me and even though I may not be able to accomplish many more accolades, and that I've checked off almost every box that there is to check in Japan, that doesn't mean I want to pack up and move on from Japan. I'd love to keep coming back till I take my last bump, to Japan. But there are things that I feel like I can still do and that I even have a responsibility to do in professional wrestling." Omega added, "and that requires me to take the next step, which is AEW and pursue that to its full extent."
During the interview, Omega shared that he could have performed at the ROH/NJPW G1 Supercard and the G1 Climax shows, but juggling performing on those cards with his responsibilities with AEW would have been too taxing. 'The Best Bout Machine' went on to say that he will revisit collaborating with NJPW in the future.
"I would very much love to be a part of everything, not only [the G1 Climax in Dallas, Texas], but the Madison Square Garden show, the G1, all of those things, but then I'm burning the candle at both ends," Omega admitted. "And on top of that, sometimes, there may be a conflict of interest. I mean, I could go there, but there are all these storylines in place and I think New Japan, with how they book so longterm, they have a direction and a plan and knowing that we have our hands completely full, overly full, with what we have to do – it's a huge undertaking – it's probably best that we focus on our own things for now and just know that on both sides, the door is mutually open."
Check out the video here or in the embedded player above. If you use any of the quotes from this article, please credit POST Wrestling with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: POST Wrestling