Kenny Omega is considered by fans and industry professionals to be one of the greatest professional wrestlers to ever exist. He managed to do what others have failed: conquer the wrestling world without ever touching WWE. From Canada to Japan to Ring of Honor, and for the last 7 years, AEW, Omega is the foundation of the house that Tony Khan built.
In late 2023, he suffered a severe bout of diverticulitis that nearly ended his life. The injury targets the colon, creating small pouches known as Diverticula. These cause inflammation and pain to the host. He managed to recover and return to the ring, something Omega wishes he would’ve waited longer to do.
“I’m just still a little tiny bit on the mend, because it’s a process that takes a long time. Plus, I came back way too early, so I hindered my own full recovery because of the schedule that I took [on] probably a year and a half too soon, which it is what it is, but we here we are. Finally, I’ve been able to find the equation. I’ve been able to figure out a diet, a workout plan, and a way to stay as healthy as possible and get results, which is the most important part. It was really difficult to regain usable energy. It was tough to feel like I had any spring left in my step.”
Despite his setbacks from injury, Omega appears to be in the best shape he’s been in for a long time. Not only that, since returning to the ring at the start of 2026, Omega improves in-ring week by week. Now, he’s got his next test: AEW Men’s World Champion MJF at AEW Dynasty. They’ve only faced off one other time, and, ironically, they were both injured at the time. The Canadian-born wrestler earned the opportunity after defeating Swerve Strickland.
“Has MJF grown as a performer? Has he changed? What will he bring to the table that’s different? For a lot of people [they] come as they are. It’s as good as it’s going to be, take it or leave it. I think I’m perfect the way that I am. MJF feels like maybe he’s that kind of guy, right? I’m always looking for ways to improve. I’m always looking for ways to honor the responsibility that fans have placed on me,” Omega says. “I want to be the type of talent they believe I can be; the kind of champion they believe I can be. I don’t know MJF too well, especially not personally. I don’t know who does, to be honest, but I worry that there may be a little bit of complacency, where he feels that how he is now is good enough. This is how it’s going to be, and this is how it’s going to be for a long time.”
Omega’s been in the game for over 20 years. He comes from the same generation as Bryan Danielson and AJ Styles, the latter of whom is being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame next weekend. Styles was a huge part of Omega’s career in Japan as he set out to the states and Omega held down the fort as the new leader of The Bullet Club. Styles retired from wrestling in February and got notice of his induction at the same time.
“Like you had brought up, he had been such an integral part of the Bullet Club in Japan, whether people realize it or not, because some people maybe just weren’t watching. If you go back and you tune into the old TNA stuff way back in the day, a lot of the notoriety that they had gained was because of the efforts of people like AJ Styles, and for him to take that experience, to do what he did then with the Bullet Club, to then go and do what he did with WWE, I do feel like already his contributions sort of allow for the induction. So for me, it’s not too soon,” Omega says when asked if he’s surprised at how quickly Styles’ induction took shape.
“I feel like for as long a career as he’s had, there’s no use and just no point either. We know you’re going to be a Hall of Famer, but sit tight for like 10 years and then just for the sake of a formality, come back. I’m really glad and happy that’s happening to him now, because we never really know what’s going to happen tomorrow. So if the flowers were guaranteed anyway, you might as well give it to him now.”
In wrestling across the board, there seems to be an issue with building new/younger stars who can be future main eventers. Their hand was forced last summer with the loss of Will Ospreay and Swerve Strickland, among others. Now, when you tune in week-to-week, you’ll see people like Brody King, Kevin Knight, AEW Women’s World Champion Thekla, Kyle Fletcher, Konosuke Takeshita, Willow Nightingale, and Gabe Kidd. All of these people point to a bright future ahead for AEW. Omega agrees with me that AEW is on the cusp of spearheading that change.
“I feel like we’re absolutely on the cusp of it. I think we’re almost in a position where the reliance on the old heads, like myself, the Bucks, and Jericho, we can be put in auxiliary roles and help elevate certain situations. We can help guide that next generation, I think there’s a need for that. There’s still a place for people like us there, but I think it’s come to a point where we’re just hoping now that this next generation just takes it from us.
I do think that deep down inside all of us are just trying our best, but we are hoping secretly that the younger generation steps up and says, ‘I know you’re trying your best, but hey, I’m younger than you, I’m faster than you, I’m stronger than you, and I’m just going to take it from you.’ I think that’s what we hope for. That’s what I hope for. And when I do see talent like that that comes along where I know that I could never keep up anymore. We are going to be okay and we’re headed in the right direction because people like this exist.”
One area Omega thinks AEW has benefited is their various partnerships across Japan and Mexico. Omega stresses the importance of multiculturalism in professional wrestling and says the AEW fanbase is thankfully accepting in that regard.
“A lot of people that may not have understood Lucha Libre wrestling, or, you know, the culture or the style, they’re getting a very healthy dose of it on a weekly basis, and I think it’s become widely accepted. People really look forward to seeing these matches and the sheer athleticism that these people bring. To me, that’s really exciting, because I think to be multicultural in pro wrestling is almost as important as being multicultural in almost everything in life,” Omega says. “I think it makes you more of a well-rounded human being to understand life and the cultures that surround you. If you’re sheltered from things for too long, you start to repress the ability to accept new things around you, new ideas, new concepts. I’m just glad that we were able to introduce a lot of Lucha Libre into our programming at a time when our fans were very accepting and willing to give things a try.”
“Wrestling being a multi-million dollar business too, there’s always so much money on the line [so] you can’t make too many gambles with large investments. Sometimes you might get a promoter who will try something, and let’s say it doesn’t work out. As soon as they get an inkling of it not working out for the first time, they’ll just pull right back. They’ll go back into their shell. ‘Oh my goodness, let’s not do that ever again. That was scary. Let’s move on.’ Luckily, Tony is not that kind of person, and if he really believes in something, then he’s going to keep at it.”
Despite naysayers questioning why a 42-year-old Omega is in the main event challenging for the title, Omega believes it’s really “now or never” for him to become champion again.
“For me, the timing is almost now or never to let him [MJF] and the world know that, no, it’s actually not enough. There’s people chomping at the bit, and they’re hot on your heels to be that person who holds the belt. They want to be the face of the company, and they’re willing to do whatever it takes to get to the point where they’re better than you. I think that’s always great for the spirit of competition, whether you’re a good guy, a bad guy, [or] an in-between kind of guy. [When] everyone is striving to be a better version of themselves, you’re always going to have a very interesting title chase.”
Catch Omega in the main event of AEW Dynasty on Sunday, April 12, live on pay-per-view. Fans in the United States can watch via local cable and satellite providers as well as HBO Max, YouTube, or Prime Video. International fans — including Canada — can watch via AEW’s new streaming service, DAZN, and YouTube.
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