Don Callis recently appeared on the “Talk is Jericho” podcast to address the influence he has had on the illustrious career of Kenny Omega when Omega was still in his teens and had an interest in hockey.
Callis took credit for several of Kenny Omega’s victories, both in AEW and other promotions.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On wanting Kenny Omega to focus on wrestling instead of hockey: “It was actually me that pulled him out of hockey, because his dad’s a hockey fan, and I said ‘No. We need to pull him out of hockey and let him focus on wrestling.’ So I had a hand in … I don’t like to get my hands dirty with things like training and wrestling holds, but I think I guided Kenny with the sort of advice that you can only get from someone on our level.”
On when he realized Omega had a gift for wrestling in Winnipeg: “He got in the ring, and … he wasn’t trained, but he had been watching so much wrestling. He started rolling around and running the ropes, and what I noticed … the first words out of my mouth, I said ‘Jesus. He’s like Mutoh…’ What I meant by that was, remember Mutoh in WCW, that explosion? Zero to 60, like ‘Boom!’ The suddenness. Kenny had that at, like, 14.”
Will Ospreay dethroned Kenny Omega to win the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship at AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door II. Callis and his security team escorted Ospreay to the ring for the title match.
