Kenny Omega had an extended absence from the ring from AEW Full Gear 2021 to August 2022 due to a laundry list of injuries including a shoulder injury, a hernia, vertigo and a leg injury.
Omega initially wrestled in a compression shirt and a shoulder brace, but that may have been used as part of the story of him working his way back into ring shape.
Speaking to Swerve Strickland, Monteasy, & Rich Latta on the Swerve City podcast, Omega was asked about his mindset as he returned.
"The difficult part, and I feel a lot of performers, especially athletes, will feel, ‘If I do all these surgeries and have to take all this time away, hopefully, it’s for the better and I can recover to the best of my ability and I come back 100%.’ I wasn’t as naive. I felt like, I needed to introduce a new layer and be a different version of myself when I come back. That’s when I heard about the Trios tag belts and felt, ‘Okay, this is a chance for us to work in a division that can look visibly different than all the other divisions.’ I didn’t want it to look like a tag match with a third guy. I don’t want The Elite to be the same old Elite. Things worked out and we were able to get the song by Kansas. I feel we came back with a whole new vibe, and then the Tokyo Dome thing falling into my lap," he said, before discussing his feud with Will Ospreay and match at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17.
"I was scared about that. You had a guy in Will Ospreay being heralded as one of the best in-ring guys in the world. He is incredible. He’s a machine, he can do it all. He’s strong, fast, and agile. He’s smart enough to get by on his tools. Will’s intellect and I love Will, at times it’s helped him more than being a detriment to him. There are thoughts that don’t cross his mind, and because they don’t cross his mind, he’s able to commit to something so crazy that he could end his own career. Now, I’m too old and have seen so many terrible things in my life, the hamster wheel is always turning, and I get gun shy sometimes. Before, it was like, I get gun shy when I think about it in the preparation phase or in training. Now, sometimes, I’m in the thick of it, I’m in the match, and I know I have to or might do this thing, and I’m getting scared. I need to get that out of me. That’s one of the cruxes of getting old. It’s getting old, wiser, but at the same time you kind of get a little soft. I don’t want to say it’s an intelligence issue with Will. He’s still in that phase where he feels invincible. We’ve all been there," he said.
Omega was victorious over Ospreay at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17, winning the IWGP United States Championship in the process.
Omega is also one-third of the AEW Trios Champions alongside The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson).
Elsewhere during the interview, Omega discussed his bond with the Bucks. You can find his full comments by clicking here.
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