Kenny Omega speaks on his recent altercation with Gabe Kidd, why he won't face Kidd in his return match, and where he believes Kidd currently sits on the totem pole of New Japan Pro-Wrestling.
Kenny Omega appeared in Osaka, Japan, at NJPW Power Struggle to address the live crowd, but it was what happened after his appearance that garnered the most attention. Omega got into an altercation backstage with Gabe Kidd. The issues between them stemmed from a social media exchange where Omega cheekily said that he would consider "gifting" Kidd with the "Kenny Omega touch" if he could win the G1 Climax Tournament. Later, while speaking to the media leading up to his appearance at Power Struggle, Omega errantly called Gabe, "Greg." This mistake only fanned the flames of conflict.
Footage of Gabe Kidd's altercation with Kenny Omega in Japan was sent to Fightful by a Japanese press member who got footage a little sooner than the rest of the press that rushed over. pic.twitter.com/s2jTCqQJKC
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) November 7, 2024
During a new interview with Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp, Omega expressed regret for how public the issues between himself and Kidd have become, saying that this is a locker room issue that did not need to be made public.
"I’ve said it before, many times, there are certain things in the locker room that shouldn’t be shared to the general public. This is one of the locker room spats. It didn’t need to be shown to the world. It could have been handled so much differently. It’s so silly."
When speaking about mistakenly calling Gabe, "Greg Kidd," Omega reveals that he had immediately asked for that particular soundbite not to be used as he understood he made a mistake after a long day of doing media. Omega understood what the perception would be and did not want to come off as being ignorant.
"Here’s the thing with that. I’m not sure if the video played. I had taken so many videos that day at the New Japan office and they kept asking me, ‘What are the names of the young talents that you have an interest in?’ I am always a proponent of helping prop up the younger talent. I’m always a proponent of doing what I can for the next generation to rise up. Having to turn that switch off and on between Japanese to English, I got flustered, and I had said, 'Greg Kidd,' in the heat of the moment. Seeing there was a camera on and that it was being recorded, I immediately said, as soon as I was corrected, ‘Don’t use that.’ I wouldn’t say it was unprofessional, but I wouldn’t want that to be aired as though I don’t understand or (don’t) know of someone’s name in New Japan. It’s not that I didn’t know it. As soon as they said Gabe, I said, ‘Yes.’
"The truth is, I know more Gregs in wrestling than I do Gabes," continued Omega. "I know many Gregs that are wrestlers and I think the only Gabe that I know of in wrestling is a booker, matchmaker, promoter guy [Gabe Sapolsky]. It was more of a natural response when I’m banging off names that Greg slips out instead of Gabe. After I said that, someone had yelled out, it may have been Chris Charlton, he said, ‘Oh no, Gabe.’ Everyone is chuckling. It’s just us in the office, so I’m laughing too. ‘Oh geez, that’s going to look terrible. Let’s cut that.’ I guess it made it in or someone had told Gabe, ‘He fucked up your name.’ I feel bad about it."
Gabe Kidd says Kenny Omega will wish that "Hiverticulitis" actually killed him by the time Kidd is done with him.
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) November 12, 2024
This went about the way you'd expect. pic.twitter.com/oLVzkNcXAq
Continuing on, Omega expressed that he is only trying to sincerely promote NJPW x AEW Wrestle Dynasty and it doesn't do any of the parties involved any justice for him to come off as though he doesn't know one of the top stars in today's New Japan scene. Still, he was hoping to make things right with Gabe Kidd upon seeing him backstage at NJPW Power Struggle.
"I’m trying to promote a joint venture between AEW and New Japan Pro-Wrestling. It doesn’t do us any favors for me to not know who it is that we’re working with. I’m trying to promote both brands, equally. Not only that, but I’m trying to promote AEW, New Japan, CMLL, and STARDOM. For me to slip up in that way, that’s my bad. Should it have been put out in the public like that? No, and I asked specifically for it not to be. Sure, all of that, you can chalk up to me not knowing. Maybe I had a brain fart, whatever, that’s my bad. I’m willing to own up to it. Then you have, on the day of the show, when it’s live, I try to make the wrong right by saying all the right things, not only about the working relationship between AEW and New Japan, but I really tried to make this a 'rah-rah New Japan' day," Omega said. "As soon as I come back and do the backstage interview. Around the corner, here we have Gabe, with Robbie X, another person I had never met until that day. Robbie, consummate professional, shakes my hand. No big deal. Gabe. Here is my first chance to shake this guy's hand, hopefully smooth things over, make the wrong right. He goes into this huge speil right away about me not knowing his name. If you really think about it, why would you get so mad about a tiny little slip-up?"
To illustrate his point, Omega shared a story about trying out for TNA Wrestling in the 2000s with the hopes of joining Team Canada in the World X Cup. Scott D'Amore, the on-screen manager of Team Canada, continuously referred to Omega, whose real name is "Tyson," as "Trevor." Omega says his ability to maintain his composure and not sell the veteran's mistake was a testament to the maturity he had at the time and suggested that perhaps Gabe Kidd is lacking in that same quality.
"When I was a few years in the business, I went to TNA for a tryout. Back then, they were doing a World Cup. It was a dream, ‘Can I please be on Team Canada? Is there a spot for me there? If not, can I make an introduction and work towards that?’ That was the first day I had been able to have a conversation with Scott D’Amore. Long story short, he kept calling me 'Trevor.' Over and over and over again," Omega recalled. "My name is Tyson. He kept calling me Trevor. This was a situation where, I knew he knew what my name was, but I wasn’t going to let it phase me. I wasn’t going to sell it. I just knew that he wanted to put himself above me in that situation or maybe see how I was going to react to it. I wasn’t going to sell it. I think by doing that, it helped rapport with everyone there. Gabe on the other hand, being however many years he is in the business, he would have responded in a completely different fashion. Honest mix-up with me. One time on a section of an interview that shouldn’t have aired, I called him Greg.
"I think he saw it as an opportunity to be a headline," Omega continued. "That’s what I think it was. I think there are two types of people, you can make it into subcategories if you want to. You have guys who, when they get heated, they’re going to want to fight and settle things that way. In the same breath, you have guys like Gabe who will claim they want to fight, but they’ll bring a friend along like Robbie X, just in case things don’t go their way so they can break it up. I should have seen the clues as soon as Gabe started to get in my face and talked about me forgetting his name over and over again, but I didn’t. I did sense that he was feeling incredibly hostile towards me. Everyone has their own personal space bubble. I dont’ know this guy from a glory hole in the wall, and he’s right up in my grill, talking at me, pointing at me. It’s incredibly disrespectful, and he keeps talking about, ‘I’m a man. I’m a man.’ Who are you trying to convince, me or yourself? It was a simply misunderstanding. I couldn’t make heads or tails of the situation. Finally, after the constant disrespect, he tries to blow me off and walk away like, ‘Ah, you’re a lost cause. You’re just stupid.’ How much more can I take? Yeah, I flipped his hat off. That’s all I did. There was no need for fisticuffs. There is no need to take things or escalate it to another level. When I flipped his hat, after he had been in my face. After he was making contact and pointing at my chest, calling me names, saying I’m unprofessional and I only care about the money and that I don’t care about the business and working relationship between AEW and New Japan. Yeah, I’m going to flip your hat. Am I going to hit you? No."
Obscene comparisons aside, glory is exactly what Gabe is after in Kenny Omega's mind but to Kenny, the NJPW STRONG Openweight Champion is in need of a reality check and he's not looking to add to any delusions he feels reside in Gabe's mind by turning this altercation into a wrestling storyline and future match. Omega told Sean Ross Sapp that he tossed out a bunch of possible names for his future opponent, potentially at NJPW x AEW Wrestle Dynasty, and nothing with Gabe is set in stone.
"Gabe needs a reality check. We’re not equals anymore," he said. "I look at you as an equal. We’re human beings. You’ve done me no harm and no wrong. I’m going to respond in kind and treat you as an equal. Gabe comes out, swinging for the fences. Comes out feeling like he’s been disrespected and insulted. In turn, he not only insults me in the process, but he leaves a gigantic poop stain on the image of New Japan. It doesn’t look good for the company. It doesn’t look good for this business relationship that we’re trying to nurture and foster. Does it suck that the video was released? Absolutely. I can’t help but think that it was done with some purposeful intent because as soon as it happened, here I am in the back hoping no one saw it. I didn’t think there was a need for people to freak out about it. Someone had mentioned it as soon as it happened live on air, as if it was part as some kind of wrestling storyline. Now it’s a thing of, ‘This is a storyline. Kenny Omega was assaulted backstage by Gabe Kidd. That’s his opponent.’ I can tell you right now, that was never...I tossed out a bunch of names as possibilities."
As for where he feels Gabe Kidd ranks on a tier list compared to himself, he says Gabe is someone to look out for and he wishes him the best moving forward, but he doesn't view Gabe as a suitable competitor for his return to wrestling after a long battle with diverticulitis.
"If you have someone who just graduated and is ring-ready. That is your entry-level tier. You have your tier one, your young lions who have been on the road and traveling a number of tours but are still in the young lion role. Then you may have your freshly graduated young lion who is now allowed to wear his own choice of wrestling gear and has his own wrestling entrance music and he can have more freedom in the way he works and people he associates with. That’s the next tier. Then I believe there is the tier above that, which is your Gabe Kidd level," he said. "You’re someone to look out for, perhaps not in title contention. Domestically, people may know who you are as a fixture on the show. Internationally, you’re an unknown. I hate to be a conspiracy theorist, but after hearing of the reputation that Gabe has, I don’t know what percentage is a character or the real person. I’ve heard he’s not all there, all the time. It’s the eyes. He may be a great actor, but he has the ‘crazy man eyes.’ It’s things like that, that make him believable. I think there is absolutely a role for him and I wish him all the best in New Japan and wherever else he ends up going.
"When I mentioned Gabe’s name specifically, that was amongst a list of ten other people. There is no specific curiosity or interest in Gabe. I think he saw an opportunity for himself, which is commonplace now," added Omega. We use social media as a tool to promote ourselves. I think Gabe saw an opportunity and could make a name for himself by doing something, that he was hoping would be reported on. If this was the first time this has happened in my career, I’d be pretty embarrassed. How am I always ending up in this situations? Maybe I’m the problem. I don’t know what it is. Now I have to get to a situation where I need to put that behind me and I need to start looking towards my return to the ring. This Gabe Kidd thing, it is what it is. You can analyze it until the cows come home and it’s not going to do you any good. For me, it’s water under the bridge. I don’t like to hold grudges. Do I think he’s a suitable opponent for my return? No, absolutely not. I’m coming back from a life-threatening injury and professional wrestling and fighting are similar, but they’re a little different. If this were a thing where Gabe really wanted to fight, I feel like that challenge would have been tossed my way already, and maybe we would have found a nook and cranny in some locker room, or we would have gone to the dojo. I don’t know. Maybe not."
Kenny Omega believes Gabe Kidd has had his 15 seconds of fame and is now more concerned about moving on and doing what he can to find a suitable opponent to help further the relationship between us AEW and NJPW.
"For Gabe, he got his 15 seconds of fame. Congratulations. I care less about that. I care more about the working relationship between companies. Gabe makes it sound like I’m a professional if I don’t search out some match that it going to make a ton of money. Gabe needs to look himself in the mirror. There is no other way to say it, when has he ever made money in the business? When has he ever made money for New Japan Pro-Wrestling?"
When asked about comparisons to the way that Kenny Omega made his way up the ladder and NJPW by betraying AJ Styles and dropping him with the One-Winged Angel, Omega admitted that he did act impulsively in that moment and it would be wrong to discourage others from doing the same. However, he's confident that he will be able to work with NJPW President Hiroshi Tanahashi on the most suitable path to move forward.
"That is one way to put it. I did act on my own in that moment when I dropped AJ. Not even I knew, until it happened, that was going to be how it would go down. I can’t ever discourage people from wanting to do something different to get your name out there. I do know the situation with New Japan and it needs to be worked out. There is going to be a number of meetings. Luckily, the relationship between myself and Tanahashi, we’ll be able to figure out a way to fix this. I’m not worried about it. Hopefully, within the next little bit, we’ll be able to figure out a more realistic approach to finding an opponent," he said.
Obviously, Gabe Kidd had a lot to say about the altercation as well. He was recently interviewed by Sean Ross Sapp, too. Fans can check out that full interview here.
The full interview with Kenny Omega can be viewed in the video embedded at the top of this page..
