Kenny Omega is in the midst of taking over the world of professional wrestling and he’s just showing who he really is instead of who fans thought he was.
The reigning AEW World Champion recently appeared on the AEW Unrestricted Podcast during the company’s Fan Fest at Double Or Nothing weekend and spoke about working during a pandemic, winning the AEW World Championship and his relationship with The Young Bucks and Don Callis.
“We all do this for different reasons, we all have our own personal reasons, all of us have our own goals as to why we do what we do and for a lot of us, even if it didn’t start as this, it became this and this as being that we felt lucky that we could be one of the positive things in the world and something for people to look forward too,” Omega said when asked what it’s like to work through a global pandemic. “We look at is as a responsibility at that point, where if we’re the only ones doing what we do, if major sports are shut down, if other forms of entertainment are shut down and this is the only form of live, physical interactivity that the fans can watch, we owe it to ourselves, we owe it to you guys [the fans], we owe it to the planet earth to make sure that you’re getting a myriad of emotions. We’re not holding back just because there’s no fans, we’re gonna put ourselves out there the same way and make sure that you guys have some form of live entertainment that you can watch on a weekly basis.
“Sure, nothing will ever compare to what it’s like when we have shows in front of all you guys here, live and having a party altogether. It’s like playing a game of Twister by yourself, it’s not that fun but it is what you make of it and no matter how hard the times get, I think that wrestling being what it is, which is such a unique sport but not quite a sport, entertainment, but is it entertainment, what is it, a competition? I think we fall under such a gray zone, to be sort of the cockroach live performance job of everything on the planet,” Omega said, “and we’re gonna continue to stick around through the thick and the thin and we’re gonna do our job and put smiles on faces. If it’s something you watch to get mad at someone, we want you to get just as mad as you’d get in the best of times, in your happiest of moments, we just want wrestling to thrive no matter what happens. I think it was a big challenge for all of us to get to this point and whether things go back to how they used to be and get better or maybe it gets worse, we can promise you that we’re gonna do everything we can to stick around.”
Omega also addressed the recent attitude and attire change of himself and the Young Bucks, who are in-ring competitors and executives. Omega said he wants to be a champion for the company, but it all comes down to showing people another side of who he is and feels like he can do that as the AEW World Champion.
“Yes, I do have fancy suits, I have nice clothes, I do have them and enjoy wearing them, I like to make fantastic entrances as you saw one of those days I came in on a helicopter, it was very nice, I’ve been known to rent $3 million buses just because I want too. I’ve been known to play golf on the day of Dynamite, on the day of defending my title. I do these things because they symbolize Kenny Omega. I understand that there’s some sort of disconnect now, before, people thought they felt what I felt in the ring, they felt connected to me,” Omega said, “they felt like they’re just like me—they’re not. They’re not at all. Can these people honestly say that they’ve played a sport at a high level? No. A lot of these guys are non-sport numbnuts.
“Now being Kenny Omega as champion, I feel like I need to be more of myself, I’m allowed to be more of myself. More and more I’m seeing fans that have a disconnect with me and why is that? It’s because I’m being myself, I’m wearing clothes that are more expensive than their clothes, my wardrobe is expensive, my car is more expensive, my method of travel is more expensive,” Omega explained, “the way that I speak isn’t like the way that other people speak. People say ‘Kenny, you’re not speaking with conviction, I don’t believe the words that you’re saying because you’re playing a character’ no, this is me and people feel a disconnect because they’ve never played a sport in their lives or they could never play it at a high level like I have.”
Omega said it’s tough to get in the mindset of a real athlete like himself, but he’s not a carny wrestler. He said people might not want to cheer them for being family men or talented in other sports, but the point is that they just don’t care about being cheered anymore.
“You look at the Young Bucks, clearly the greatest tag-team of all-time, unbelievable basketball players, unbelievable family-man, that’s what they do. They’re all about family—wait, that sounds boring, what a bunch of nerds, who’d wanna cheer for guys like that? The thing is, we don’t care anymore, we don’t care about the cheers, we’re just doing what we do to fuel the habits. For me, my habit is video games, my habit is the cat that I have at home, who’s waiting for me, he doesn’t like it when I leave so that’s why I wanna wrap this thing up tomorrow nice and early, get home to my wonderful beautiful Thai cat,” Omega stated. “He’s two years old, his name is Dobbie and he’s extremely talkative and he’s gonna let me know when I get home that he’s pretty pissed off about it and he doesn’t care if I win or lose, he just wants me at home. So, the best way to do that is wrap some-bitch up tomorrow, nice and early, go home with the hardware and make sure that I get the winner’s purse so I can give him that quality organic food that he deserves.”
If you use any portion of this transcript, credit WrestleZone and link back to this post.
Read More: Kenny Omega Working With Several Injuries, Sliced Open Hand After Belt Shot At AEW Double Or Nothing
