Kenny Omega: "If [NXT] guys were in the same show as me, they'd be in the dark match. They'd be in the opening match of my main event match."

[C.S.]

Kenny Omega embarrassed himself thoroughly in a recent interview:

Quote

You can call it a war if you want. It's like, to me, we're in a completely different kind of business. I mean what they're doing is different from what we're doing. It's weird, because it's hard to say you're going to war with people that I call my friends.

And yet, we are going to war. And yet, when I sit back and look at the grand picture, I'm going to war with these dudes that, if we were on the same show together, the same promotion...let's pretend there were no borders. Let's pretend there were no promotions. Let's just pretend there's just one big promotion. If these guys were in the same show as me, they'd be in the dark match. They'd be in the opening match of my main event match.

You wanna call that a war, you wanna call that competition? Go ahead. Maybe it's fun for you to do. That's cool. But we're different planets. And you're going to see that right away, when you see 10000+ arenas sold out. You're going to see smiles on fans' faces. You're going to see real stars. Not developmental talent but real stars appearing on your television sets, every week.

It's one thing to criticize NXT - that's fair game - but going after fellow wrestlers is petty, shitty, and a bad look for both him and AEW.

Part of me feels bad for Kenny though. Whatever "cool" he had in Japan has completely evaporated in AEW. He's a geek now, and it's not because of a worked won-loss record that's obviously setting up some kind of angle. I dunno what it is exactly, but something is definitely missing...

Video:

 

[El-P]

Well Kenny Omega did sell out the Tokyo Dome working against Okada. Adam Cole and Johnny Gargano aren't exactly on the same level as far as resume goes. Will that translate to the US in the long run, no idea, but he's not factually wrong, him, the Bucks, Jericho, Mox are much bigger stars than anyone on NXT. I wonder what KUSHIDA thinks of this though. 

[MoS]

I do agree with C.S on one thing though - out of all the founding fathers of AEW, Omega has looked the least like a genuine superstar, despite all his excellent matches. You can blame the booking for it, but Cody had a pretty mediocre NWA champion reign, and yet, in front of the AEW audience, he genuinely comes across as the biggest wrestling star in the world. 

Sure, you can blame that on the booking, but it's not as if WWE's booking does the developmental stars any great favours either. 

[El-P]

4 minutes ago, MoS said:

I do agree with C.S on one thing though - out of all the founding fathers of AEW, Omega has looked the least like a genuine superstar, despite all his excellent matches.

I would agree too. Still, it's not like he's been made the focus of the promotion yet, thus far the booking is having him lose all of his big matches. I guess (hope ?) there's a long term reason for that, as he seems to go back to his Cleaner character a bit. 

Thus far, Cody definitely looks like the hottest guy in the company (I wonder how much of the "anti-HHH" part of that plays a role).

[MoS]

15 minutes ago, El-P said:

I would agree too. Still, it's not like he's been made the focus of the promotion yet, thus far the booking is having him lose all of his big matches. I guess (hope ?) there's a long term reason for that, as he seems to go back to his Cleaner character a bit. 

Thus far, Cody definitely looks like the hottest guy in the company (I wonder how much of the "anti-HHH" part of that plays a role).

I agree that the anti-HHH part probably does play a big role, but one of the things that has always struck me while watching the AEW shows is just how much the AEW audience treats Cody as "their guy", if that makes sense. He does have the rep of being underutilised in WWE. He is just perfect ace material for AEW right now.

[El-P]

Yeah, to me he's clearly The Man right now as far as aura and audience reaction goes. It's quite amazing to witness how his career evolved from being "a dull guy" in WWE, to "he won't fit in ROH and will fail in the indy circuit" to a "fun act in NJPW thanks to his pairing with Brandi" to "legit superstar of AEW".

[MoS]

I came to this (fairly obvious?) epiphany during one of the initial sequences of Cody v. Spears at All Out. Spears is, well, as Cody put it, a good hand, and not really someone that would light the crowds on fire. Yet, during some initial face shine sequence early on in their match, Cody posed on the turnbuckles (I think) and the crowd just went completely apeshit for him. It really was incredible to watch. 
 

On another note, Brandi also deserves a lot of credit for the success of Cody. She is a genuinely great promo clearly. I was talking to one of my best friends, who is also a huge wrestling fan, about this, and he said that while he loves Brandi, he would hope that she would stop cutting face promos in one segment while being a heel and cutting heel promos in another segment/angle (in the women's title scene, for instance). He said it is a lot like Triple H at his worst, and I agree with my buddy. I hope Brandi's character is streamlined - not sure it is the right word to use, but feels  more fitting - so there are no mixed signals sent to casual followers of the product.

[El-P]

7 minutes ago, MoS said:

On another note, Brandi also deserves a lot of credit for the success of Cody. 

Oh yeah. I never ever cared one bit about Cody before, never saw shit in him tbh (that odd mask in WWE, wtf was that ?). First time I saw him and Brandi do their thing together in NJPW I loved it, and by that point it was clearly the act that was better than Cody's work. Brandi is just a terrific old-school valet in the Sherri mode. So it seems like she got Cody out of his shell and really helped him find himself, to the point he can carry himself on his own now.

[NintendoLogic]

This year has exposed Omega as someone who desperately needs a filter. Gedo's greatest accomplishment as booker just might be making him look like a guy you could build a promotion around.

[SirEdger]

Kenny can say whatever he wants about NXT guys but this quote better be remembered vividly if AEW underperforms in their first couple of outings on TNT.

[The Thread Killer]

Man, people like to rag on some of the stupid insensitive and tone deaf stuff Triple H, Vince, and Stephanie say in interviews...and rightly so.  But in fairness, Omega comes off as a total douche in that interview.  Even if he really feels that way, there is little to no upside in actually saying it.  Apparently Kenny has never heard of "taking the high road."  I really don't understand why more people involved in this so-called "war" don't understand that this not 20 years ago, and thanks to technology people can WATCH BOTH DAMN SHOWS. It doesn't have to be either/or.

[El-P]

1 hour ago, The Thread Killer said:

I really don't understand why more people involved in this so-called "war" don't understand that this not 20 years ago, and thanks to technology people can WATCH BOTH DAMN SHOWS. It doesn't have to be either/or.

This. I won't, because I just won't, but really, the "war" has not begun yet and I'm already tired of the "let's compare which show is the best this week" stuff, honesty. I just want AEW to be a show I enjoy like I enjoy IMPACT or enjoyed Lucha Underground. Ratings and performances and whatever I could care less. The war to get ratings is what turned the awesome WWF of 1997 (well, the awesome main event scene ok ?) into the dump of shit that was WWF of 99.

[C.S.]

 

[sek69]

As Dave pointed out, the match he's referring to took place on a broken ring and was a minor miracle they were even able to do anything on it.

[C.S.]

11 minutes ago, sek69 said:

As Dave pointed out, the match he's referring to took place on a broken ring and was a minor miracle they were even able to do anything on it.

Good catch!

Here's the Dave tweet:

 

[Johnny Sorrow]

3 hours ago, The Thread Killer said:

Man, people like to rag on some of the stupid insensitive and tone deaf stuff Triple H, Vince, and Stephanie say in interviews...and rightly so.  But in fairness, Omega comes off as a total douche in that interview.  Even if he really feels that way, there is little to no upside in actually saying it.  Apparently Kenny has never heard of "taking the high road."  I really don't understand why more people involved in this so-called "war" don't understand that this not 20 years ago, and thanks to technology people can WATCH BOTH DAMN SHOWS. It doesn't have to be either/or.

Exactly. I get Omega trying to rile up the weirdos out there, but it's dumb. As you said, we're at a point where we can watch whatever we want, whenever we want. At least as far as cable/ satellite  and streaming goes. Like Punk said, don't buy into the hype of two billionaires fighting, just watch both.

There's going to be lots of folks here in the states who are going to start getting Smackdown for free, or on the most basic cable/ satellite plan. That's what interests me more than a "war". I don't watch a lot of football, but I did this past Sunday on FOX and, Holy Shit, they're promoting the fuck out of the Smackdown move. That's huge. 

Oh, and since NXT mid-carder Tye Dillinger is one of the AEW main guys? Maybe Omega should reconsider.

Didnt Rollins tweet some similar bullshit a few months ago and was roasted?  No matter who does it, it's lame.

[NotJayTabb]

It's probably also fair to point out that the one area that NXT indisputably smokes AEW, both in star power and in ring, is their women's division, which is apparently Omega's responsibility 

[Log]

Omega is promoting his company.  Rollins was promoting his company.  

Have you ever heard an announcer say, "Get ready for the third-best wrestling promotion in the world to come to your town!"?  "This match might main event some smaller shows somewhere in the country!"?  "Tune in to see some of the most middling wrestlers in the world compete!"?

No.  You say your promotion is the best.  The other one is not up to your standard.  Your wrestlers are the best, not the ones on that other show.  Yeah, we can watch both, and I will.  But I'm glad they're not being all polite with each other. 

Jesus.  This is wrestling.  Where's the fun in, "Yeah, those other guys are really good too."?  Let them talk shit. Then let them try to back it up with a quality show.  

[El-P]

7 minutes ago, Log said:

Have you ever heard an announcer say, "Get ready for the third-best wrestling promotion in the world to come to your town!"?  "This match might main event some smaller shows somewhere in the country!"?  "Tune in to see some of the most middling wrestlers in the world compete!"?

That got a laugh out of me.

7 minutes ago, Log said:

Where's the fun in, "Yeah, those other guys are really good too."?  Let them talk shit. Then let them try to back it up with a quality show.  

Well, it was part of the fun of ECW, even though it was mostly a fiction, especially when Kevin Sullivan would lend WCW people and then Heyman was receiving a check from Vince every month. But yeah, those Shane Douglas or Taz promos shitting on the mainstream were part of the fun. The only thing is, now that we live in the social media era, the hashtag culture and the likes, people will be more incline to jump on everything, all the time and do podcast about it, even though everything will be forgotten by the next week when the next "scandalous" or "embarrassing" thing is said. How many of those ridiculous "controversy" are totally forgotten in a matter of a few days ? It's hard to be a *cult* favourite when everything can be seen immediately by everyone, including the usual wave of haters and fanboys (works for both sides of the fence, mind you). Anyway, just ranting...

[NintendoLogic]

A wrestling promo isn't a battle rap where the only goal is to diss your opponent. If you're trying to promote something (your match, your promotion, yourself), there has to be an degree of plausibility to what you're saying. Calling your promotion the best is fine, but saying guys like Cole and Gargano are developmental geeks who can't hang with Joey Janela and Tye Dillinger makes you sound like an insecure idiot.

[KawadaSmile]

Saying you are the best is different than saying everyone else is below you.

Seth caught shit for saying his company is the best, but you didn't see him saying "The Young Bucks geeks? Pff, they would be curtain jerkers if they were lucky!", and for good reason. Omega saying this type of thing just shows how much a thin-skinned geek he is, plus show his myopic vision of how this business works.

 

Although, if we're being fair, this ridiculous quote led us to an all-timer moment in Wrestling History.

Behold.

[TonyPulis'Cap]

19 hours ago, Log said:

Omega is promoting his company.  Rollins was promoting his company.  

Have you ever heard an announcer say, "Get ready for the third-best wrestling promotion in the world to come to your town!"?  "This match might main event some smaller shows somewhere in the country!"?  "Tune in to see some of the most middling wrestlers in the world compete!"?

No.  You say your promotion is the best.  The other one is not up to your standard.  Your wrestlers are the best, not the ones on that other show.  Yeah, we can watch both, and I will.  But I'm glad they're not being all polite with each other. 

Jesus.  This is wrestling.  Where's the fun in, "Yeah, those other guys are really good too."?  Let them talk shit. Then let them try to back it up with a quality show.  

Very much on board with this. The rational part of my brain rolls my eyes a little when people knock each other in interviews and social media, mainly as it often comes across as incredibly forced and cringey, and as a lot of people have pointed out we now live in a world where we can watch everything....but the other part of my brain, where you want to get lost in what you are watching and get wrapped up in people firing shots at one another says bring it on - as Log says, let them talk shit and then sit back and enjoy.

I haven't really enjoyed WWE for a couple of years now, and willing AEW to succeed, not because I'm a Young Buck stan, but because I see it as beneficial for the industry as a whole to have some genuine competition to give WWE a kick up the backside and out of their comfort zone. I would just hope though that if the wrestlers on both 'sides' are going to be firing shots at each other they bring some decent material to the table!  

[C.S.]

Omega continues to humiliate himself and make AEW look horrible:

Quote

“I’ll tell you one guy, and I’ll give him a little bit of credit. It is … he’s some sort of ROH guy. Tall, lanky guy. Donovan. His name starts with a D … I don’t even know what it is.”

[Someone off camera says “they’ve never said it on TV, so how could you?]

“::laughing:: BOOM! BOOM! He’s not even used. Ok? But I can see him. Donovon Dickhead. Right? Sitting there, ‘now Triple H will push me. I’m gonna get the TV time now! I’m gonna stand up for the team.’ I speak a promo in-character, ok? Is he mad that I said bad things about Jon Moxley?! No! How many fans do you think came to me and said, ‘Kenny, not cool bro! You really want to hurt Jon Moxley?! You’re not sympathetic to his injury?!’ How many people do you think f*cking said that?! No, its these children. It’s these people that barely have a grasp on the English language and they’re tweeting at me saying, ‘How dare you say that these guys are developmental talent! They’re not developmental and they’re better than you actually! They did more for the business than you!’ Ok ….”

“You want f*cking reality?! You know how many match of the year awards I have? You know how many records I f*cking broke?! I shattered. And no one is ever gonna re-break them.”

“People in Japan are still trying on a daily basis to be the next Kenny Omega. They’re trying so hard.”

“Every last word I said. They knew. They could sense it. They know when I’m in character, but they also know when I’m dishing it out a little bit. Ok? And so, whatever."

Unless they're building to an NXT vs. AEW supercard none of us know about (they're not), this is absolutely pointless and doesn't draw a red cent for AEW. All it does it turn off NXT fans who may have been interested in checking out the AEW product.

Transcript Credit: https://www.prowrestlingsheet.com/kenny-omega-dominik-dijakovic-being-elite/

Video: 

 

[sek69]

Heel does heel stuff, the internet explodes. Film at 11. 

6 minutes ago, C.S. said:

“People in Japan are still trying on a daily basis to be the next Kenny Omega. They’re trying so hard.”

He got name dropped on yesterday's New Japan show, so he's not wrong. 

 

He's being the best kind of heel: he's saying things that are more or less true, but in a dickish way. We loved  it when Tully would do it in 1985, but Kenny does it today and people think he's destroying his company. 

[El-P]

Omega is in character. Same exact thing as Shane Douglas shitting on Ric Flair & Shawn Micheals in 1996. Except Omega has legit sold out buildings in Japan, where they legit are trying to replace the gap created by leaving. I'm enjoying this stuff more as it goes on. That's the old-school ECW fan in me talking maybe.

With all that is gonna turn fans away (the Librarians, Orange Cassidy, Omega doing promos on other companies), AEW is gonna be dead before the year, for sure...