All Elite Wresting’s Kenny Omega has chimed in on a recent story revolving around his former NJPW tag team partner, Kota Ibushi, and WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon.

The 2016 story by Rob Wolkenbrod was recently re-shared on Twitter. The article recounted a meeting between Ibushi and Vince McMahon backstage at NXT TakeOver: Dallas.

According to the article, Ibushi went backstage during the show and “gave a ‘high-five’ to a ‘big man’.” As it turns out, that ‘big man’ was none other than Vince McMahon. Apparently, Ibushi had no clue who Vince McMahon was which caused several staff members to allegedly become “upset.”

Ibushi competed in WWE’s Cruiserweight Classic back in 2016. He would later decline a WWE contract. Last year, Ibushi signed a full-time deal with NJPW.

Kenny Omega’s Thoughts

Kenny Omega shared his thoughts on the matter having seen the story once again enter the public eye.

Taking to Twitter, he stated:

“Hard to believe, but yeah, some of the most talented wrestlers in the world aren’t constantly walking on eggshells and scared shitless of their boss.”

Kenny Omega is scheduled for action tonight at AEW Fyter Fest Night Two. He looks to defend the AEW Tag Team Champions with his partner Hangman Page. The duo will face off against Private Party, who will be accompanied by Matt Hardy.

Kenny Omega is currently 1/2 of the AEW Tag Team Champions along with Hangman Page. He recently spoke to the entertainment website the Natural Aristocrat about a variety of subjects including the pressure he feels after having had matches rated 6-stars and over.

“Yeah, I mean it’s a double-edged sword really because when you set that standard, that precedent that you can have a six-star match… For some people, there’s an expectation that ‘Oh, if I see Kenny Omega, this is what I expect and hope to see!’” Omega said during the interview.

Omega then commented that what is a 6-star match to one person isn’t necessarily a 6-star match to someone else. He wants to diversify the type of matches he can have to appeal to the widest range of audience possible.

“What I’m trying to do is just diversify my resume, I never want to have to give what in one person’s mind is a 6-star match. That 6-star match to him isn’t necessarily what I think is a 6-star match. It isn’t necessarily what my neighbor that was beside me thinks is a 6-star match. It’s not what little Jimmy who lives across the world and generally likes watching Sailor Moon, maybe he doesn’t consider that a 6-star match,” Omega continued.

Omega and Hangman Page have been AEW tag champs since winning the belts from SCU aboard the Jericho cruise in January. They have defended the titles successfully 6x already. They’ve defeated SCU, the Lucha Bros, the Young Bucks, Kip Sabian & Jimmy Havoc, the Natural Nightmares, and the Best Friends. This Wednesday on Dynamite, they are scheduled to face Private Party.

The full interview with Kenny Omega can be read here.

• Kenny Omega Defends AEW Women’s Division From Detractor

AEW star and leader of the Dark Order Brodie Lee recently appeared on SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio. The former WWE Superstar would discuss a litany of topics from his short time with the All Elite promotion, as well as leaving him WWE earlier this year.

One of the topics discussed with Brodie Lee was the level of talent in the AEW locker room. The now Exalted One will be challenging for the AEW Championship this weekend against Jon Moxley, another former WWE Superstar. Brodie Lee recently stole the belt from Moxley, and he is saying that the former ‘Lunatic Fringe’ will have to earn it back at AEW Double or Nothing.

Brodie Lee’s Wishlist

If Brodie Lee defeats Moxley he has a ton of potential opponents going forward, and the Exalted One gave his list of preferred names on the AEW roster. “The list is so long. A guy like Kenny Omega, probably? Darby Allin, Jungleboy, Cody Rhodes…the list is so wide so it’s hard to choose.

Lee would elaborate further, “even the Proud and Powerful, [Chris] Jericho all those guys in the Inner Circle. I don’t want to come off like ‘oh you know everybody’ but like literally almost everybody on the roster is a fun matchup to me, it’s all fresh, it’s all new.”

The Exalted One would finish by saying that Kenny Omega is at the top of the list, and that he could have a big time matchup with the ‘best bout machine.’ “A guy like Kenny Omega is probably at the top of the list, o have that crazy big time matchup.”

Would you like to see Brodie Lee vs Kenny Omega? Let us know in the comments

Also Check Out:

• New Match Announced For AEW Double or Nothing
• AEW Casino Ladder Match Rules Announced, Participants
• Matt Hardy Wants To Create The Most Layered Character Ever

Former WWE Superstar Heath Slater recently appeared on the Chris Van Vliet podcast. The ‘One Man Band’ would discuss a number of topics from his time with the company and what he plans on doing now that he has hit the independent circuit.

Two names that Heath said he wants to face in the ring are NJPW and Japanese Wrestling legend Hiroshi Tanahashi and AEW’s Kenny Omega.

Heath Slater on Meeting Tanahashi

Heath would tell a story of when Tanahashi visited the FCW developmental territory while he was there. “I remember Hiroshi Tanahashi came to FCW, and this was a decade or so ago? No longer than that. This was when FCW finally got into the warehouse” Heath Slater began.

“He [Tanahashi] came down I want to say he was with Yoshi [Tatsu]? He came down for a visit and just talking and shaking hands and stuff but then left. And then, he was huge in Japan! But I remember him just talking and stuff.”

Heath elaborated further, saying “I remember seeing these clips and everything and then people reminded me ‘that was him, that was him!’ I was like ‘oh crap!’ And then he became the mega star over there in Japan to where I would like to go and work him over there.”

Kenny Omega

Slater would then discuss his time in WWE’s Deep South developmental territory, where he worked alongside another extremely notable talent, Kenny Omega.

“Kenny Omega. You know, I worked him back in the developmental days of Deep South” Heath Slater would reveal. “That’s the only match we ever had, and we were babies, you know? I would like to work him again. I feel like we can kill it.”

Who would you like to see Heath Slater mix it up with on the independents or otherwise? Let us know in the comments.

Also Check Out:

• Lio Rush Reveals How He Found Out WWE Was Releasing Him
• Jon Moxley On What He Thought Of WrestleMania 36
• Otis Comments On Finding Out He Was Winning the Money In The Bank

When AEW started last year, many assumed Kenny Omega would be a staple in the main event picture. Then he lost a single’s match to Chris Jericho at last year’s Double or Nothing. Jericho moved on to defeat Hangman Page and won the inaugural AEW World Championship and Omega moved into storylines with the Young Bucks. He hasn’t been near the world title picture since.

Omega recently discussed his last year in AEW during an interview with SI.com. During the discussion, he mentioned that he currently prefers to help create new stars.

“To me, I would rather take more unknown names, guys that don’t have that big reputation yet, and show there is something special about them,” Omega said. “I want to be a force to help introduce new stars to the world and magnify the work of those around me.”

Omega also mentioned that many AEW fans might not be familiar with his work in Japan. He continued to say that he wants to become an all-round performer. This involves having matches in different styles with different opponents and teammates.

“I want to be a true, all-around, real ‘best in the world’ performer,” Omega continued. “That means singles matches, tag matches, mixed tags, battle royals, you have to be able to do it all. With AEW, I’ve been allowed the creative freedom to develop myself as more of an all-around performer.”

Kenny Omega Still Best In The World?

Fans hoping that Omega will eventually return to the world title picture should not lose hope, however. Omega continued to say that the time is nearing for him to remind everyone that he is the best in the world.

“When it’s time, which is sooner than people think, I’ll remind people why I’m the best in the world,” said Omega. “And it’s coming. It’s not a matter of if it’s going to happen, it’s just a matter of when.”

Omega is currently 1/2 of the AEW World Tag Team Champions along with Adam “Hangman” Page. The team won the titles aboard the Jericho cruise. They have since defended the belts successfully against SCU, the Lucha Bros, and the Young Bucks.

The full interview with Kenny Omega can be read here.

• Also Read: Tony Khan On Possibly Releasing Talents Due To Coronavirus Pandemic

Kazuchika Okada and Kenny Omega have been in the ring multiple times due to their rivalry in New Japan Pro Wrestling.

Both of them have had some amazing matches together. Omega talked about his rivalry with Okada and said that he reminds him of Ric Flair.

The AEW Tag Team Champion said that The Nature Boy is widely agreed upon to be the best of all time, and the same goes for the current IWGP Heavyweight Champion Okada who brings out the best in his opponents, a quality that Flair also had.

“A lot of wrestling historians and purists will go to bat and say that [Ric] Flair was the greatest of all time because he was so successful for a period of years. The same goes for [Kazuchika] Okada, who’s almost the modern-day Ric Flair. They have a very patterned main event style, but it’s very successful. They bring out the best in almost every opponent,” Omega told Bleacher Report.

Omega has had an upper hand with his matches against Kazuchika Okada. Before arriving in AEW, Omega had a match with The Rainmaker for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship that lasted for well over an hour. Omega won the match to become the champion.

Now in AEW, Omega successfully defended his AEW Tag Team Championship with his partner Hangman Page against The Young Bucks at AEW Revolution.

Kenny Omega and Adam Page will, in fact, keep the AEW Tag Team Titles. 

Omega and Page took on The Young Bucks (Nick and Matt Jackson) at the AEW Revolution pay-per-view event. This is where Omega and Page successfully retained the titles over the fan-favorite tag team. 

AEW booked a Tag Team Battle Royal on the February 19 episode of Dynamite in Atlanta, GA. The stipulation going into the match was that the winners would become the new #1 contenders for the straps. 

The Young Bucks vs. SCU vs. Private Party vs. Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus vs. Best Friends vs. Santana & Ortiz vs. The Butcher & The Blade vs. Jack Evans & Angelico vs. Alex Reynolds & John Silver vs. Cima & Michael Nakazawa were featured in the match. 

The Young Bucks ended up winning the contest. Thus, earning the right to challenge for the AEW Tag Team Titles against Page and Omega at AEW Revolution.

Page and Omega beat SCU for the titles on the January 22nd episode of AEW Dynamite that was taped the night in the Bahamas on the Ship of Jericho on TNT.

What are your thoughts on Kenny Omega and Adam Page retaining the AEW Tag Team Titles? Was this the right call by AEW officials? Sound off in the comment section.

• Jon Moxley Talks Renee Young’s Reaction To His AEW Full Gear Match With Kenny Omega

Joey Janela had a match with Kenny Omega on AEW Dark which received positive reception from fans. The match took place on the 10/15 episode of Dark and while Omega came out the victor, Janela still received a lot of praise for his performance. He would then have another match with Omega but this time on Dynamite’s 4th episode. This match got a great response from fans and is considered one of the best early AEW matches.

Janela talked about this match while appearing for an interview with The Wrestling Inc Daily, where he spoke about the match with Omega on Dynamite and revealed how important it is to him.

Janela said that the match was a big deal for him and that it was almost not going to take place.

“It was great. I just wanted to show everyone that I could go. That match almost didn’t happen so for them to let it happen was a big deal for me. Some of my friends from home came up to watch it so maybe my career peaked at that point. “ joked Janela.

Janela also revealed that the match was originally supposed to be against Jack Evans instead of Kenny Omega.

“Where the segment was – me and Jack Evans never wrestled on TV. That would have been his and my TV debut and they didn’t want to put us out there cold. I said, ‘Well, you advertised the match already.’ They said, ‘We’re just gonna put Jack in there with Kenny.’ I was depressed as I was just coming off the big match with Kenny the week before. I felt like things were going right and I really wanted to have that match with Jack Evans on TV. 15 years in the making – I needed that moment,” said Janela.

Janela added that Tony informed him about Jack wrestling with Omega, which got him really upset. But the match was changed later with Janela facing Omega and that’s how it came to be.

Kenny Omega is often cited as one of the best pro-wrestlers going today. Some even offer higher-praise to the former IWGP Heavyweight Champion.

During a discussion with Jonathan Snowden of Bleacher Report, the AEW World Tag Team Champion discussed his process of putting the matches together that his fanbase enjoys so much.

“A lot of wrestlers are wrestling fans at heart,” Omega said. “I’m not necessarily a fan [of wrestling] anymore. I’m a fan of TV dramas, I’m a fan of video games, and I’m a fan of movies. I like the way that those forms of media are laid out to attract the fan. That’s my study material for how I put together a storyline or a match.”

Kenny Omega On His Unique Wrestling Style

Omega continued to say his matches are more about putting together a story than doing cool moves or his athletic ability.

“Yes, I’m athletic and I can do cool moves and I try to be original with the way I perform them, but I feel the way that I put things together is different from the average wrestler because the average wrestler is just that: He’s just a wrestler. He’s a wrestler who wants to be a wrestler. I am wrestling as a job but trying to tell human stories to pull at your heartstrings.”

Omega would also continue to talk about how he is not a typical “wrestler’s wrestler” but that’s not what he’s trying to do.

“There’s no Kenny Omega copy-and-paste formula. It’s all different. It’s difficult and very mentally draining, and because I do that, maybe it makes me not a true wrestler’s wrestler. What I am trying to do is not attract the wrestler’s wrestling fan; I’m trying to open up the world to what wrestling can be and show there is no limitation to what wrestling can be.”

Omega is currently 1/2 of the AEW tag team champions along with Adam “Hangman” Page. They will take on the Young Bucks with the titles on the line at Revolution.

The full interview can be found here.

Kenny Omega is all too familiar with wrestling tournaments – the former IWGP champion has taken part in such tourneys and even was the first non-Japanese wrestler to win New Japan Pro Wrestling’s G1 Climax. Since he’s in All Elite Wrestling now, many fans have wondered if we can see a similar round-robin format tournament in the promotion.

While speaking to ComicBook.com, Omega revealed that they have talked about introducing a tournament event and the company is open to it. He said that conversations regarding it have taken place and while nothing has been confirmed, everyone behind the scenes is on board with the idea.

“Every one of those tournaments, they’re rough on the body and it’s tough to figure out a schedule to do so,” Kenny Omega said. “Whether it be a round robin tournament, a league style or one night we are definitely looking into a tournament format because people, as a [myself] fan even, I love tournaments. As, a performer they’re tough to do, but I think it really tests the athletes’ mettle and it really separates the men from the boys. Yeah, I would love to do a tournament. I don’t know what we’d call it. Don’t have any ideas for a name, but all of us have been brought on board with a tournament. It’s just a matter of figuring out how.”

• Kenny Omega Responds To Fans Critical Over His AEW Tenure

NJPW has a number of annually held tournaments, namely the coveted G1 Climax, World Tag League, New Japan Cup, Best of the Super Juniors, Super J-Cup, and Super Jr. Tag Tournament. It would be really interesting to see what kind of tournament AEW holds in the future.

At AEW Dynamite this week, Kenny Omega was seen defeating PAC in an incredible 30-minute Iron Man match. The two had scored one pinfall each over each other by the time was over, and the match was extended under sudden death rules. Omega was finally able to win the match by hitting a One-Winged Angel on PAC.

Kenny Omega’s signing with All Elite Wrestling got the wrestling world buzzing and many expected him to stay on the top of the new wrestling promotion just like he was in New Japan Pro Wrestling. That, however, doesn’t seem to be the case as Omega has been on a downward spiral in AEW. He lost to Chris Jericho at Double or Nothing, then went on to lose major bouts with the likes of PAC and Jon Moxley. Not all is bad for Omega though, as he did win the AEW World Tag Team Championship with Adam Page at Chris Jericho’s cruise last month. Fans are still critical of Omega’s run so far as they assumed he would be on the top of the company.

Omega was recently asked about his opinion on the criticism he’s been receiving regarding his stint in AEW.

“It’s funny because I feel like when people … I could compare it to when your favorite player perhaps gets traded to another team,” Omega told Sporting News. “When your favorite player gets traded to another team, and he’s initially not the top scorer or leading in assists or playing the way that he used to play like he did for the home team, your team, it’s easy to criticize them and say that you made a big mistake, and that you’ll never be the same guy again and that it’s all downhill.”

Omega added that just because he’s not putting on matches that last 45-60 minutes doesn’t mean that he’s not the same guy. Omega believes not everything is about him, he’s trying to help a company run a weekly live show.

“This isn’t about tooting my own horn, but it’s like I’m now helping run a company that has live television every Wednesday. I’m part of a very successful tag team with “Hangman” Adam Page, a guy that I have a lot of chemistry with, and I’m existing within a division of guys that are amongst the top of all the tag teams on all of the planet and showing that it takes more than just having a good long singles match to be called the best in the world.”

Omega continued and added that he believes he is at its creative peak. He believes that having the same kind of match over and over doesn’t make someone the best wrestler in the world, they have to have layers to them and do different things.

At AEW Dynamite this week, Kenny Omega was seen defeating PAC in an incredible 30-minute Iron Man match. The two had scored one pinfall each over each other by the time was over, and the match was extended under sudden death rules. Omega was finally able to win the match by hitting a One-Winged Angel on PAC.

The AEW Tag Team Champions SCU will not remain on top of the division as they have been dethroned by Kenny Omega and Adam Page.

Page and Omega beat SCU for the titles on Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite that was taped on Tuesday night in the Bahamas on the Ship of Jericho on TNT.

All Elite Wrestling set up this contest last week when Omega and Page defeated Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent) (w/Orange Cassidy) and Proud-N-Powerful (Ortiz & Santana) and The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) in an AEW World Tag Team Title #1 Contendership Four Way Match. 

As a result, it surpassed Page and Omega to the #1 spot in the AEW tag team rankings and earned them this title match. 

SCU won the AEW Tag Team Titles when the promotion held the finals of the Tag Team Title Tournament on the October 30th episode of AEW Dynamite in Charleston, WV at the Charleston Coliseum. SoCal Uncensored beat The Lucha Bros to win the titles.

What are your thoughts on Kenny Omega and Adam Page the AEW Tag Team Titles? Was this the right call by AEW officials? Sound off in the comment section.

AEW Rankings For Week Ending 1/22/20

At one point, All Elite Wrestling’s Kenny Omega was the top star in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). He was at the pinnacle of the promotion as their champion, holding the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. According to Omega, however, once NJPW learned he intended to leave the company, they did “whatever they could” to paint him in a negative light. He addressed his issues with NJPW in a recent episode of Wrestlers On The Road Ordering Room Service.

Omega’s Problem With NJPW

“Once they knew that I was going, they did whatever they could – they did a complete media blitz – to make it look like I was this terrible person,” Omega recalled. “Once I picked up on that, it actually inspired me to make a video that I made.”

He continued, “Yeah, some of my good friends in real life, Toby Fox, the guy who made Undertale, he helped me write the script for this game idea. I funded the whole thing because I knew it wasn’t going to get cleared [by NJPW]. I was like, ‘okay, we’re clear, here it is. I even edited it for you. It’s all done.’ And they’re like, ‘no, we’re not showing it.’ And I was like, ‘you’re not showing it?’ Yeah. I’m like, ‘well, what do you want me to do then?’ And they’re like, ‘well, the President doesn’t like it. Gedo doesn’t like it.’ Okay. So I said, ‘okay, thankfully, I own it, so here you go, Nick.’ We put it up on BTE.”

“It got a ton of media, press It went viral right away,” Omega noted. “And then, New Japan hits me up like, ‘so if we, like, edited the parts we didn’t like, could we use that video because I’m noticing it’s, like, getting a lot of traction. Could you actually give it to New Japan World?’ And I’m like, ‘oh, I’m sorry, I already gave it to Nick.'”

Kenny Omega’s Contract

Omega noted later in the video how he had requested a specific clause to be written into his AEW contract. This addition would have allowed him to maintain a relationship with the promotion and continue travelling and competing in Japan outside of AEW. 

“I think the part that was strange for me was that I had always made clear that being a part of Japan or having roots in Japan was important to me,” Omega explained. “And that I was there to help them, anybody at any point in time for the long run, and I had it written into my contract with AEW to do so.”

Working Relationship

Nick Jackson then divulged how they had included similar additions to their contracts. He shared how the Young Bucks had attended meetings with ROH and New Japan to express how open they were to work together.

Although Kenny Omega may not be appearing on a NJPW show in the near future, two AEW stars recently competed during Wrestle Kingdom 14 earlier in the month. Both Jon Moxley and AEW World Champion Chris Jericho travelled to Japan to be on the show. Despite this, Nick has maintained the “door has not opened up at all.” 

H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription. 

Kenny Omega’s last match with New Japan Pro Wrestling took place at Wrestle Kingdom 13. On that night, he lost the IWGP Heavyweight Championship to Hiroshi Tanahashi. Omega would officially leave the promotion after signing with All Elite Wrestling in early 2019. New details have surfaced regarding what Omega’s role at Wrestle Kingdom 14 would have been had Omega continued with NJPW.

According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Omega was originally supposed to defeat Tanahashi in the Tokyo Dome at WK13. He was then to take on Kazuchika Okada in the main event of the G1 Supercard from Madison Square Garden. After that, Omega would have been in the “Double Gold Dash” tournament on this year’s Wrestle Kingdom card.

“Originally, Omega was to retain the IWGP title against Tanahashi at the Tokyo Dome and then lead to a match with Okada, their first ever meeting in the U.S., for Madison Square Garden,” wrote Dave Meltzer.

The plan was then for Omega to be 1 of the 4 competitors in the “Double Gold Dash” tournament over Wrestle Kingdom this year.

“The Tokyo Dome final four booking plan with both the IWGP and IC belts at stake was to be Omega vs. Ibushi and Okada vs. Naito,” Meltzer continued.

Kenny Omega vs Kazuchika Okada Head-To-Head

Omega defeated Kazuchika Okada the last time they wrestled which was on the Dominion show in 2018. Okada defeated Omega in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 11. The two went to a time-limit draw at Dominion in 2017. Omega would defeat Okada in the G1 that summer. All told, Omega leads the head-to-head series 2-1-1.

AEW star Kenny Omega took part in a Twitter Q&A session on Thursday morning. The former IWGP Heavyweight Champion addressed a number of topics, including the latest on an AEW video game, how long he intends to continue wrestling and more.

Kenny Omega on…

Here are some highlights of what Kenny Omega said about:

Why he’s taken a reduced role in AEW so far:

“I lived out mostly all of my dreams during the last run I had and now a big part of my current dream is seeing a new generation thrive.”

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14 event taking place over 2 days for the first time:

“Was fun to have two incredibly large scale shows to look forward to back to back.”

If he prefers working dome shows, big arenas or more intimate venues:

“I’ve grown to love the 10-15k size. Ryogoku or Osaka jo are incredible.”

Which wrestlers he wants to see in AEW:

“Anyone with enthusiasm that’s can step up and hang with the top guys.”

Fans on Twitter being critical of AEW’s Women’s Division:

“Lately, most ‘criticisms’ I read are incredibly ignorant. Depressing the amount of fans that have absolutely no class. That being said, I do try to sift through those to get to the actual constructive criticism.”

How long he plans to continue wrestling:

“I always say 5, but I’ve been saying that for close to 10 years already.”

If he would be interested wrestling Tessa Blanchard, who challenges for the Impact Wrestling world title this weekend at Hard to Kill:

“She’s great, I think the match would rock.”

Who he considers to be the face of AEW’s women’s division:

“Still developing the face of the division, but Riho’s proven to be an inspiration to many, Shida is the complete package, and Kris has shown that she has the tools to take the div to another level.”

The latest on an AEW video game:

“Coming (hopefully) soon!”

When fans can expect another Kenny Omega vs. Xavier Woods video game battle:

“He tends to need months of practice before attempting to challenge my natural ability, so I’m just hanging out on stand by.”

AEW Video Game

AEW has not officially confirmed an AEW video game is in the works, but Kenny Omega has been outspoken about the topic. During a live panel at Starrcast III back in August, Omega said that an AEW game is one of his top priorities.

“I can’t share anything right now,” Omega said at the time, “but I wouldn’t be surprised if there was something to announce by the end of the year. Be ready. Be ready for that, guys.”

We’re still (eagerly) awaiting an announcement.

Kenny Omega recently appeared on the Young Bucks’ “Wrestlers Ordering Room Service” YouTube show and spoke about the issues between him and his former promotion, New Japan Pro Wrestling.

“I was the lowest-paid guy on the roster for like a year and a half,” Omega said regarding his time in NJPW.

Omega and the Bucks then spend some time talking about the last couple of years they spent in New Japan. Omega then addressed his final Wrestle Kingdom match against Hiroshi Tanahashi.

“There is a huge long story with the build-up to my match with Tanahashi how they completely changed the narrative,” Omega said. “At first, it was supposed to be a 50/50 story between myself and Tanahashi, people were supposed to be torn.”

Omega has it specifically written into his AEW contract that he can wrestle with NJPW. Despite this, Omega has not returned to the company since.

“Once they knew that I was going they did whatever they could to do a complete media blitz to make it look like I was this terrible person,” Omega continued. “Once I started to pick up on that it actually inspired me to make the video that I made.”

• Kenny Omega Confirms NJPW Wasn’t Behind Japan Travel Issues

Impact Wrestling star Brian Cage has teased a match against All Elite Wrestling’s Kenny Omega. Cage uploaded a photo with the “Best Bout Machine” to Twitter, accompanying it with the following caption: “Who you got? Where do you want to see it? Why and how soon?” Omega responded to Cage’s tease with a GIF from Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

Both wrestlers were present at Lucha Libre AAA’s Triplemania Regia show. Omega was booked in a match for his AAA Mega Championship. He successfully defended his title against Dragon Lee. Cage, meanwhile, teamed with Puma King against the teams of Taurus and Villano Jr, Bandito and Flamita, and El Hijo Del Vikingo and Aramis.

Omega recently lost a high profile match in All Elite Wrestling to Jon Moxley. The two competed in an Unsanctioned Lights Out match at the promotion’s last pay-per-view, Full Gear. He has since bounced back, picking up a victory over PAC on an episode of AEW: Dynamite. This win puts him and PAC at a win a piece.

Back in October, Cage competed in the main event of Impact Wrestling’s AXS TV premiere. He faced off against Sami Callihan, defending his Impact World Championship. Callihan would eventually defeat Cage after numerous piledrivers, including an avalanche piledriver from the second rope.

Jon Moxley recently spoke with 101WKQX’s Kevin Kellam in Chicago where he discussed his latest match that aired on a pay-per-view presented by AEW. 

He beat Kenny Omega in an Unsanctioned Lights Out Match that took place at the AEW Full Gear PPV. This contest saw them use everything from shatter glasses to barbed wire weapons. 

During the show, Moxley’s wife, Renee Young, made her feelings known about the match in a series of posts on Twitter. 

Moxley was asked how the conversation with Young went after the match, which he stated that she was “Over-dramatic, come on, like. it comes with the territory, you know what I mean? 

You sign the contract, we’re together forever and I will love you forever, but you’ve got to understand that if you’re one of my friends or loved ones, especially if you’re my wife, you’re going to deal with some moments where we things get a little cringey and weird.”

Jon Moxley Speculated To Return To NJPW For Wrestle Kingdom 14

Moxley stated that he tends to fly close to the flame sometimes not just in wrestling but life. He makes better decisions now compared to his poor decisions in his younger days. He stated that you’re going to have their moments as it’s part of a marriage. 

“I could roll my bike down a mountain tomorrow and break my neck, you know what I mean? These things are constantly on the precipice of happening.”

Young saw his comments and reacted by writing the following: 

All Elite Wrestling’s Kenny Omega has addressed criticisms lobbied at the promotion’s utilization of women’s division. Omega, who is also one of the promotion’s Executive Vice Presidents, helps to oversee their women’s division and has been key in hiring Joshi talent.

Speaking on Wrestler Observer Radio, Omega explained how one of his main focuses in AEW was to showcase Japanese talent who haven’t had the opportunity be seen on a global scale.

“There hasn’t been much exposure of Stardom on a worldwide scale, but people know who they are, mainly due to Kairi Sane and Io Shirai,” he said. “Since their NXT debuts, people have dug a little deeper and gone back to the roots and seen what Stardom is all about. I’m sure they’ve gained fans through that, but there are other styles of Joshi wrestling and other talent that people haven’t seen, that don’t wrestle for Stardom. These are the people I want to introduce to the world.” 

He continued, “But it’s not the be-all, end-all because there are all sorts of flavors of wrestling. I want to be the one, as best as I can, to show the variety in that.”

Division Criticisms

Omega explained that he is fighting for the AEW women’s roster to be featured more prominently on Dynamite and Dark. He shouldered some of the blame for this, noting how his angle with Jon Moxley took a lot of time on the show away from female talent. 

“At the end of the day, there’s only so much time in an episode. It’s almost amazing how fast it gets eaten up. We haven’t been able to focus on women as much as I’d like. Some of it has been availability. We have girls signed and hopping on board. I hate to say ‘wait til 2020,’ but I can safely say in 2020 there are going to be interesting and exciting signings that will shake up the division. As soon as we have a women’s tag division, that will balance (things) more and give the women more of a stage. Once there’s that ‘thing’ for them to fight for, you’re going to see more time devoted per episode for the women.”

Omega recently lost to Moxley in an Unsanctioned Lights Out match at AEW’s last pay-per-view, Full Gear. 

H/T to Fightful for the transcription.

In the short history of AEW, Kenny Omega has already lost matches to Chris Jericho, PAC, and Jon Moxley. AEW’s ‘Best Bout Machine’ finally broke into the weekly AEW Rankings this week, sitting at #5 in the men’s singles division with a 6-4 overall record.

Omega discussed the reasoning behind his recent losses on an episode of Wrestling Observer Radio with Jim Valley and Dave Meltzer. 

“It’s no secret that I’ve sort of opted – I wouldn’t say ‘take a back seat’ – I love performing, I love being on every show as much as I can, I like to contribute, I always want to contribute where I can,” Omega said.

“But we have so many new faces and each and every one of them that we have on our roster there’s a star, there is star quality. It’s unfortunate that not every single one of them can be on TV and they can’t get a crap tonne of time and I’m just a very patient guy. I know my time will come.”

Omega would continue to say he feels that AEW has made the right choices so far.

“I do think we’ve made the right moves right now. I do think that having Chris Jericho as our first champ was the right decision and I think that keeping Moxley incredibly strong – if you’ve seen his reactions in the live house, the people love him,” Omega continued. “I think that’s the right direction for him too.”

“I think that right now for me to be what people kind of expected that I would be off the get-go, which is just New Japan copy-and-paste Kenny Omega, I just don’t feel the timing’s right.”

Kenny Omega is scheduled to face top-ranked wrestler PAC next week on AEW Dynamite from Chicago, IL.

The first match for next week’s episode of AEW Dark has been announced and it involves Kenny Omega. 

On Tuesday, All Elite Wrestling confirmed that Omega’s first defense of his AAA Mega Championship will take place on the show. He’ll defend it against Jack Evans. 

The show will be taped tomorrow before and after the next episode of AEW’s weekly television series on TNT, Dynamite, on Wednesday from Indianapolis, IN at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum. The announcement was made in a post on AEW’s official Twitter account. 

The announcement of the contest read like, “Just signed for #AEWDark to be taped TOMORROW in Indianapolis, Indiana. @KennyOmegamanX defends the Mega Campeonato @luchalibreaaa against @JackEvans711 Be there LIVE! Great seats are available at http://AEWTIX.com.”

AEW Bash at the Beach: 9 Day Event Includes Jericho Cruise, 2 Episodes of Dynamite

Omega beat Fenix to win the AAA Mega Championship at the Heroes Inmortales XIII event under the banner of Lucha Libre AAA World Wide (AAA) back on October 19 in Coliseo La Concordia in Orizaba, Veracruz, Mexico.

The show, which is hosted by Tony Schiavone, typically features three matches and a series of promos recapping what happened on the previous episode of Dynamite as well as looking ahead to the new episode. 

WWE Hall of Famer turned AEW Commentator, Jim Ross, did an interview with Sports Illustrated where he spoke about Jon Moxley vs. Kenny Omega. 

This Unsanctioned Lights Out Match took place at last Saturday’s AEW Full Gear PPV that saw Moxley go over after a wild match. This contest saw them use everything from shatter glasses to barbed wire weapons. 

According to Ross, it was a different match to call as they weren’t working a standard match and that due to the amount of legitimate physical punishment that Moxley and Kenny took, he thinks it may have gone a little too long.

He did praise them for working hard and harder to get something over in years. He added that the passion of those two guys was a breath of fresh air for the business.

“It’s been years since I was this proud of two guys in a match like I am with Moxley and Kenny,” Ross stated. “I’ve never seen a main event like that. They should be congratulated. The effort they put forth was absolutely amazing. This match was a great indication of the in-ring spirit of AEW.”

Jim Ross Says Joining AEW Has Given Him A New Direction In Life

Ross continued by stating that they want to be about innovation and delivering a great effort and the match gave them stunts, wrestling, drama, and uniqueness. He thinks the match was about two guys that were given a chance to lay out their own game plan and execute their match.

“I loved that the Mox-Kenny match challenged me as a broadcaster,” Ross said. “People kept telling me, ‘JR, this match isn’t for you.’ How do you know that? I wasn’t with ECW; that was Joey Styles’ gig. I never got to call a lot of the hardcore stuff. I don’t find it distasteful, I don’t find it bad.”

Ross added that AEW is supposed to have something for everybody with a variety of styles and presentations that fans are going to like. He made it known that AEW is not a one-dimensional company.

Kenny Omega reportedly experienced difficulty entering Japan recently when he traveled to the country ahead of DDT’s Ultimate Party 2019 on November 3rd. According to a report from the Wrestling Observer, Omega has had difficulty entering the country ever since leaving New Japan Pro Wrestling.

“When Kenny Omega went to Japan for the DDT show, he was stopped going into the country. It’s the third time this has happened since he left New Japan. Something happened where there was an attempt to get him banned from going to Japan for ten years,” wrote Dave Meltzer in the latest issue of the Newsletter.

NJPW President Harold Meij was recently interviewed for NJPW1972.com and stressed his company would have no ability to prevent Omega from entering the country. Below is a Google Translate (i.e it’s not perfect) version of Meij’s comments.

“There were some unbelievable rumors that New Japan Pro-Wrestling tried to prevent Kenny Omega from entering Japan, but there was no reason why a company could do that. I don’t want to do that.”

“It was a rumor spread from somebody’s speculation, but I mentioned that it was important to tell the fact by denying it once. Kenny Omega has made a great contribution to New Japan Pro Wrestling, and I wish him success.”

On the same day the report about him having trouble entering Japan was printed, Omega Tweeted the following:

Amazingly, this was all happening at the same time WWE’s roster was stuck in Saudi Arabia:

Following their hellacious unsanctioned Lights Out match at All Elite Wrestling’s Full Gear pay-per-view this past Saturday, Kenny Omega has not been medically cleared to wrestle.

Taking to Twitter, “The Best Bout Machine” shared the news. Omega wrote, “I lost and doctors won’t clear me for TV. The problem is that you left me alive and I’ll be back. I win. #AEWFullGear #AEW”

In the run-up to their bout, Moxley shared how he believed their bout would be the “money match” of the night.

“I’d say this is definitely the money match right now,” Moxley stated. “You can tell when there’s a spark between two guys in the ring and there’s this combustible energy, an electricity you can feel. Our lives intersecting at this exact moment, it’s hugely fortunate for all involved. It seems like fate.”

The matchup was a long-awaited confrontation between the two. They were originally set to wrestle back in August at All Out. Moxley, however, was forced to pull out of the match due to a case of MRSA in his elbow. This issue following during his time competing in New Japan’s G1 Climax tournament.

Moxley emerged victorious from their brutal clash that saw liberal use of barbed wire, mousetraps, tables, brooms and even an ice pick.

Check out our Statistical Analysis of MOXLEY vs. OMEGA (AEW Full Gear).

Kenny Omega vs. Jon Moxley lived up to the hype that was presented by All Elite Wrestling. 

Moxley beat Omega in an unsanctioned lights out match at the AEW Full Gear pay-per-view event from the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Maryland.

• AEW Full Gear Results & Live Coverage

This was a long-awaited showdown that was delayed from taking place back in August. The reason for that is due to Moxley having to pull out their scheduled match at the All Out event at the Sears Centre in Chicago, IL that aired on pay-per-view.

Moxley had a serious case of MRSA in his elbow that was picked up during his time in the NJPW G1 Climax. 

On the October 30th episode of AEW Dynamite on TNT, All Elite Wrestling announced the stipulation for the contest due to the storyline bad blood between the two stars. 

Cameras followed Moxley into the office of AEW President Tony Khan’s office where it was revealed that this scheduled match had to be an unsanctioned lights out match as AEW can no longer sanction the match. 

What are your thoughts on the outcome of this match? Was this the right call by AEW officials? Sound off in the comment section.