During a recent interview with NJPW to promote Monday’s NJPW Power Struggle event, Kenny Omega revealed that he has a lot of “unfinished business” with The Elite.
You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On the Elite: “We’ve got a lot of unfinished business. I’ve got unfinished business with the Bucks, I’ve got unfinished business with Jack Perry. I’ve got unfinished business with Okada, clearly.”
On the NJPW roster: “Then I look at the studs you guys got over in New Japan. You guys got, I mean, Shingo Takagi’s always been a fantasy match of mine, dream match. But I’m here now to help cultivate the new talent. The guys that people tell me are the stars, the guys that people tell me, ‘You gotta watch out for him,’ those are the ones I want to test. So when you got mouthy little sh*ts, guys like Greg Kidd? [Someone off-screen says Gabe Kidd.] Gabe Kidd, yes, he’s a funny guy. What I like about him is he’s super confident. He had that comment about AEW wrestlers being scared to talk to girls, shit, man. I can relate to that. We’re probably still scared to talk to girls. So he’s right. Sure, guys like that. I like that. I like that gusto, I like that attitude. I sort of miss having that killer instinct myself. So it’s like if guys like that are hungry, and if guys like that think that it’s their time to shine, it’s time put to those guys in the spotlight. Let them step up, let them take a shot. I want to see what you got. Maybe it’s not the time for a Kenny Omega/Gabe Kidd match, it’s probably too quick. I don’t think our fanbase really knows him, I don’t know if anyone cares about him. But that’s my job, to give these guys a hard introduction, like maybe you should be watching these guys.
“Those are the kinds of talents that I’m interested in because if it weren’t for me, maybe we wouldn’t know about a guy in AEW like Will Ospreay and look at his meteoric rise. He’s arguably the guy right now in our company. You look at Jay White. If it weren’t for Jay White deciding to take fate into his own hands and become the character that he is now, the person that he is now, we wouldn’t know him on a global level, and people are talking about him like he’s one of the best, and he is, absolutely is one of the best. So show me the young talent. What’s the other guy, Callum [Newman]? Super fast guy, right? This guy looks like he could win l the 100-meter dash at the Olympics. These kinds of athletes, this is the type of pro wrestling that I want to see. I want to be introduced to guys like this. So guys like Gabe, guys like Callum, and HENARE, he’s one of the strongest, toughest performers you guys have over in New Japan. Again, let’s give a big congratulations out to Zack Sabre Jr, the second foreigner ever to win a G1. Big things are happening over in this company, and if people don’t know about it, I want people to know about it. So I think that the Forbidden Door or whatever it is you like to call it, I think it’s just a great chance, not only for the guys that are making waves over here in Japan to get noticed in America, but also guys over in America to get noticed over here. We’ve got up-and-coming young talents that could probably do some big things over in New Japan, and I love that there’s the opportunity now for that talent exchange and for these guys to mix it up in the ring, to test each other. So if I can get that guy to provide that test, great, and if I can’t be, that’s great too because we’ve got a list of guys, hundreds of guys champing at the bit to get in the ring and try to better themselves, and see if the talent opposite from them in a ring can measure up.”
At the 2024 AEW WrestleDream 2024 pay-per-view event, Rico appeared alongside MxM Collection to team up against The Acclaimed. The latter picked up the win in the end.
During a recent edition of his “Stylin’ Podcast,” the former WWE Superstar spoke about the appearance.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On if he thinks MxM Collection deserve his talents: “Yes, I have the talent and I make or break people. They caught my interest because they are in tune with each other. They’re protégés right now, they’re not full-on clients. They’re protégés, but they have potential. They really do have potential, and I see that, and that’s what I have a keen eye for. I saw it with Billy and Chuck, and I told them what my plan was, and they bought into it, and we were very successful until they didn’t follow my direction and backed out. With all the accolades and awards and everything I’ve won and achieved, that is the only disappointment in my illustrious career is when they backed out. I don’t think Mansoor and Mason will back out. I think they understand the level of styling that I have, and I can make them if they just follow directions.”
On their loss at AEW WrestleDream: “I will agree, they got distracted [at AEW WrestleDream], that was a little letdown right there because they had it. They were listening. I don’t know what happened, and like I said, Saggy Ass [Billy Gunn] got involved, and I couldn’t coach after [he hit me].”
On if he’s spoken with MxM Collection since the match: “Yes. They were very disappointed because they were gonna end scissoring forever, and it was my debut. They felt really bad that they took the L on a debut. They had The Acclaimed’s number, they really did. We talked about it prior, we went through strategies, I gave them my expert advice, and we still took the L. But afterwards, I tried to encourage them and told them this is not the end. That’s one loss out of a possible 99 wins. I tried to get them undiscouraged, and I gave them a present. They seemed to be reignited. I don’t know, we’re still in communication. I gotta work on it, it’s gonna be a rocky road. They’re young and they’re still learning. So I’m gonna have to pour a little more effort into this. But I do see possibilities. I do see potential, raw potential.”
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