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NewsKenny Omega Discusses Potential Working Relationship Between AEW And NJPW

Kenny Omega Discusses Potential Working Relationship Between AEW And NJPW

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Kenny Omega discussed a potential working relationship between AEW and NJPW during an interview with F4Wonline.com. 

Here is what he had to say: 

Kenny Omega on a potential working relationship between AEW and NJPW: “The way I look at it, and of course I don’t know the current political structure, but my how it sounds, things have opened up a little bit. I believe that companies in general – not just New Japan but all companies – are very more open-minded to doing new things and to create friendly relationships. I do believe that if there are professional working relationships across the board, it benefits the industry as a whole. I think a lot of people in New Japan understand that, and a lot of us are still friendly with one another, especially the boys. There might have been issues with office people that had never even met us in person, but there was never an issue from anyone on the wrestling end of things. So, a lot of us still keep in touch, and a lot of us still talk about waiting until there’s a day where we can work again together.”

On NJPW’s power structure and how it could impact a relationship with AEW: “Everything is really kept apart from one another – there is sort of an office division and a section of Bushiroad and New Japan that never at all does anything with the wrestling end of things. At the highest level, you have Gedo, and there are people he’ll never even talk to, but those people are making decisions for the company. I think it’s because of that isolation between one division and the other that if those guys in the office don’t like something, it’s never even presented on the table for the wrestling end of things. It’s always like that – the wrestlers will always want to do whats best for business and what provides the best wrestling experience for the fans. It’s always sort of – it’s the guys in the suits that maybe don’t understand the business, the guys in the suits that make decisions thinking that it’s what’s best for the company that sort of hold everything back. I do believe that with the recent shift, everyone now – between the American division and Japanese division – are a little more open-minded.

On why he’d be open to AEW working with WWE and wanting to put the fans first: “We’ve always been open-minded. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – if for some reason WWE came knocking on our door……I would love to do a talent switch or trade-off or whatever and work together. I’d be all for it. I think whatever benefits the wrestling fan, I believe that’s gotta come first. Again, that’s my answer, and I don’t know what Tony [Khan] would say. But as a wrestler who has now also assumed an office position, I’m thinking about the fan first. I’m thinking about professional wrestling as a whole, and I think when you start thinking about fantasy scenarios and crossover stuff, it just gets really exciting. I think that’s the shot in the arm that wrestling needs, and we’re more talking about what’s going to attract more viewers than what we have on the table right now. It would be stuff like that.

“Even if at first New Japan not being as well-known in the states, I think as soon as word of mouth started to travel that, ‘Hey, we’ve got these guys that are really good and they’re from another country and the match quality is going through the roof.’ Something like that, I think, could really grow numbers. Maybe it wouldn’t, but you won’t know until you try. At the very least, for the wrestling fan, I believe it’s win-win. If you’re only making your current fan more happy with working together, that’s still a win. But I don’t think you’re gonna drive fans away by having a friendly atmosphere and working with everyone that’s a really good, active professional wrestler.”

(h/t – 411 Wrestling)