I was watching AEW Dynamite the other night, Kenny Omega is cutting a promo, and I’m sitting there with scrunched eyebrows and wondering why all the smarks on the internet think that this guys is wrestling Jesus? There’s no denying that when he’s in the ring he’s capable of god-like performances, but when he’s on the mic, he’s actually really quite cringe-worthy to listen to.
There’s a very obvious reason why he’s been paired up with “Cyrus the Virus” Don Callis, so that he can be the mouthpiece that Omega clearly desperately needs.
Back a few years ago, I remember hearing rumblings from wrestling scuttlebutt about this match that just happened in New Japan that was legendary status. I’d heard Kenny Omega’s name in passing a few times and I’ve obviously heard of Bullet Club, but I didn’t really follow NJPW much then so I knew nothing about him really. But based on just how much buzz Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada was getting, I became curious. It started with a few highlight packages on YouTube which were pretty good, and then I found a video of the entire match, and I remember my eyes bugging out seeing the preceding 1: ahead of the time; an hour long match, really??
I watched the whole thing, and it wasn’t difficult to do at all. Omega and Okada really did put together a legendary match, and one that could very well stand the test of time, and be mentioned in the same breath as legendary clinics like Flair/Steamboat or Steamboat/Savage. It broke the rubric of famed wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer’s rating system, and it was understandable why.
It served as inspiration to me to want a replica of the IWGP World Championship, despite the fact that NJPW doesn’t sell more than 1,000 copies a year, so I knowingly purchased a Pakistani knockoff, because I just wanted one for my collection based on how good Omega/Okada was.
The thing is, Kenny Omega’s general popularity was built on the reputation of a handful of matches with Okada, and his body of work in NJPW, specifically as the Bullet Club “The Cleaner” persona. I’m sure there are superfans out there that cite his pre-Bullet Club otaku gimmicks, and when he was wrestling blow-up dolls for DDT and other wacky shit he did, but for the most part, it’s safe to say Bullet Club and the series against Okada is what put Omega on the map.
I’ve made no secret to how critical I am towards AEW, and how I think it’s really a fed geared towards smarks. And because of this, Omega will always be safe from irrelevance there, but I can’t believe that anyone can be objective about the idea of him being able to become popular from scratch, to American audiences who don’t have any inkling of idea who he was prior to AEW.
Because I have to imagine that anyone who doesn’t know who Kenny Omega was in Japan would probably think AEW Kenny Omega is kind of lame as shit. The lifting of gimmicks from (now) old video games, the shotgun hand pointing, the Terminator crouch before diving out of the ring, the “you can’t escape” spot; these are all kind of lame for American audiences, but were all things he could get away with in Japan, because he’s a fascinating foreigner to Japanese fans. And the fact that he hasn’t really evolved much since moving from NJPW to AEW goes to sell a little bit of narrative that AEW is sort of like a retirement league for himself and the Bucks, because none of them are remotely trying to grow now, and are just rehashing their existing gimmicks to an audience that might not be as familiar with them.
Say what you want about Cody Rhodes, but at least he is trying to continue to evolve and be fluid with his character, and as I’ve said to my bros, I think there’s a timeline on when Cody is going to fallout with his fellow AEW VPs in Omega and the Bucks, over their insistence of making art and performing versus Cody’s evident business mindset.
The point is, as legendary of a worker Kenny Omega was in Japan, he’s actually really kind of lame as shit when it comes to Kenny Omega in America. His persona, gimmick and style just doesn’t translate very well in America in my opinion, and I’m not sure if he realizes it, and if he does, would even be willing to try and do something about it. Western pro-wrestling relies heavier on promos, mic work and personality, and these are all things that Omega is being exposed to being really weak at, and it’s tanking his reputation to smarks like me. His match with Jon Moxley was pretty good, but still was choppy and segmented when it came to telling a story, and I feel like he’s struggling to balance his job as an executive as well as a top-tier performer.
Meanwhile, up in New York (industry lingo for WWE), Roman Reigns is doing the lord’s work with his current persona as the Tribal Chief. As much as people on the internet have been trying to dunk on Reigns over the last decade, he’s never been a bad worker, but he just didn’t really have much personality. It’s like all of the pieces that makes a legend have all come crashing together at the same time, and the current iteration of Roman Reigns is frankly the best thing in the entire business right now.
At any given time, there’s always one standout thing in the WWE, and right now it’s undoubtedly Roman Reigns. He’s finally got a storyline that suits him and plays to his strengths, and paired up with Paul Heyman and with a reluctant patsy in Jey Uso, the Tribal Chief is the best thing going across all brands, and frankly the entire industry. His promos have all been A+, and the promos feed into the style of matches that make them relevant and good, and I think for the first time in his career, he’s a top guy across the board.
I think what a lot of fans don’t seem to think about when opining about wrestlers that attributes aren’t in a vacuum; the strength of one aspect can enhance another, and conversely the lack of one thing can tank another.
Take for example Roman Reigns and Kenny Omega. Reigns’ character is undoubtedly at a 10 right now. The strength of his character has been so strong, it’s been capable of altering the WWE creative process to actually steer storylines away from Bray Wyatt which is absolutely unheard of because the Rotundo family clearly has blackmail photos of Vince McMahon based on how hard pushed Wyatt is, always. Ordinarily, I’d say Roman’s workrate is like a 6-7, tops, but because of his persona, and how it’s expected to be slow, methodical and brutal, it’s made his last few actual matches more watchable and logical, bringing him up to more like an 8-9.
Meanwhile, Omega’s workrate is undoubtedly like, 11. He’s literally wrestled blow-up dolls and even little girls and made it look good and entertaining; but that shit was in Japan where they do exhibitions and fun shit like that, and where personas and characters aren’t nearly as leaned on as they are in America. Taking AEW Kenny Omega’s character into consideration, that shit is like a 4 right now. Dated, predictable, no mic skills, and bad at telling a story, it doesn’t help sell a match at all. After his latest promo with Don Callis doing the majority of the talking, I have no idea who his next challenger even is. Is it a rematch with Jon Moxley? Is there even anyone on the AEW roster that’s not tanginally in the web of the TNT Popeyes Championship?
The point is, the lack of character for Kenny Omega dings the meaning behind his matches, and if his matches lack meaning, then an 11 workrate easily becomes sucked down to like a 6-7 spot-fest job session.
Most internet smarks wouldn’t want to admit it, but as we stand right now, their wrestling lord and savior Kenny Omega is very much < Roman Reigns, the WWE corporate, genetically manufactured tool that they love to hate. Objectively speaking, Reigns is telling better stories that his style of work works perfectly to, while Omega is cosplaying as an 80’s Horseman with no real challengers in sight.
Believe me, I’m not rooting for AEW to fail, and I would love to see the old Kenny Omega bust out a 7-star classic again. But it needs build-up, it needs careful development, and frankly needs to be taken a little more seriously. Just look at Tyler Bate vs. Pete Dunne from 2016; an entire fed (or division) really can be built on a single great match.
