Kenny Omega‘s “You Can’t Escape” sequence of moves is a key part of his arsenal, but the series of moves used to be very different than what you see today.
While the likes of the One Winged Angel and V-Trigger are known as some of the best finishing moves in wrestling, the “You Can’t Escape” adds a lot to Kenny Omega’s matches.
The sequence sees his lifting his opponent onto his shoulders in a fireman’s carry, before rolling forward headfirst, slamming them into the ground.
He then jumps onto the middle rope in the corner, shouting ” You Can’t Escape!” before performing a picture-perfect Moonsault, backflipping and landing stomach first on his opponent.
The move sequence got its name because, as he jumps to the middle rope, Kenny Omega shouts “You can’t escape!” before leaping onto his opponent.
This sequence is usually done fairly early in the match, but is a key part of Kenny Omega’s move set in AEW.
This has become one of the most iconic moves in Omega’s ever-expanding move set, and has become a regular sight in his matches in AEW Dynamite.
However, this version of the move is fairly recent, in the grand scheme of things.
Before he settled on the current iteration of the “You Can’t Escape”, Kenny Omega had a different variation of the move.
While he wrestled in the US on the indie scene, and in Japan for the DDT promotion, Kenny Omega’s “You Can’t Escape” had a different finish to the move.
Omega still hit his Fireman’s Carry Slam on the opponent, but instead of jumping onto the middle rope, he instead turned around immediately and hit a running Shooting Star Press onto his downed opponent.
This is a move that is not often used by Kenny Omega, and has become a signature move of his former tag team partner, “Hangman” Adam Page, in All Elite Wrestling.
While some people will argue that this is a different move entirely, it was actually Kenny Omega (in 2022) who confirmed this move was the original “you can’t escape” sequence.
The name of the move (as well as the phrase Omega yells while in the air) is another clear reference to Kenny Omega’s love of video games – specifically Street Fighter.
The character Alex uses a move called the “You Can’t Escape” in Street Fighter, and has clearly influenced Kenny Omega in his career so far.