With his recent AEW Trios Championship win and suspension, the future is murky for Kenny Omega. While he likely to be reinstated in AEW and his suspension is merely a formality (due to a fight with CM Punk backstage), the former AEW Champion could be looking to explore his options sooner rather than later.
While Omega would reportedly “love” to wrestle a match at Wrestlemania, he does not currently seem likely to sign for WWE. He almost signed a deal with the company in 2018 when he was also mulling over offers from both NJPW and newly formed AEW. However he was low-balled by New Japan and the offer to be an Executive Vice President was too enticing, so the former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion signed for Tony Khan along with the rest of the Elite.
This sullied relations between the two, with the former New Japan President cutting all ties between AEW and NJPW for the years following. This included letting NJPW talent wrestle for AEW and vice-versa – the few exceptions to the rule being stars like Jon Moxley and Chris Jericho, who had already signed NJPW deals prior to joining AEW.
However, the ship has since changed captains and New Japan is much more open to working with their American counterparts. This was apparent with the incredible cross-promotion super show, entitled “Forbidden Door” earlier this year. Top stars like Kazuchika Okada, Jay White and Hiroshi Tanahashi crossed the see to take on the best AEW had to offer, although one man absence was heavily noted.
Former AEW Champion Kenny Omega did not wrestle at Forbidden Door. Injuries sustained during his year long AEW Championship reign became too much to bear and he took over 6 months off to heal after losing the title to Adam Page. He would return before All Out 2022 to compete in the AEW Trios Championship tournament, which he and partners The Young Bucks would eventually win.
He was suspended early in September 2022 for a backstage fight with CM Punk, but should return soon to compete once again in AEW. However, when his deal with AEW expires in 2024 Omega could be looking outwards. Kenny Omega to New Japan Pro Wrestling could be a real possibility and there are a number of reasons why the Canadian would want to move back to Japan to wrestle in the Tokyo Dome once again.
Dream Matches In A Stagnant Main Event
Since Kenny Omega left New Japan in 2019 a lot have things have changes, in regards to the main event scene. There have been some new faces in the group, some old familiar ones still knocking around and yet the scene seems boring and stale and has done for some time.
Kazuchika Okada remains the top face in the company. His matches with Omega put both men on the map in the US, especially after their 7 star match. No-one has been able to come close to The Rainmaker in NJPW and a rematch with Omega would be first on the list for any Japanese fan.
Hiroshi Tanahashi, the man he last faced in the company, and Tetsuya Naito remain in the company and would be the first picks for rematches with the Best Bout Machine. He has had five star matches with the pair before and is likely to do so again to the delight of the fans.
Since he has left, a number of new stars have joined into the heavyweight division and ascended to main event status. Kenny Omega would be ideal to face. Zack Sabre Jr and Shingo Tagaki are two stars who worked their way up to be some of the best in the world and would be ideal opponents for Omega.
One match that needs to happen is Will Ospreay vs Kenny Omega. The two have been teasing the match nonstop for months and even faced off in a six-man tag team match on AEW Dynamite. It looks like the match could take place at Wrestle Kingdom 17 although it has yet to be announced.
IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Jay White vs Kenny Omega could also have the potential to put on one of the best matches of all time, should it be booked.
Did AEW Fire Kenny Omega?
Kenny Omega was not fired by AEW. He, along with CM Punk, the Young Bucks and many others were suspended after a backstage brawl following All Out 2022. The fight broke out over CM Punk’s comments in the post match press conference and all men involved were suspended.
Would you like to see Kenny Omega return to NJPW?
