On his “Jim Cornette Experience” podcast, legendary manager Jim Cornette discussed Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay at Wrestle Kingdom 17. Not one to mince his words, Cornette tore into the match. However, Cornette surprisingly did have some positive things to say about the new IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Champion.
Cornette admitted that while Omega may not be his cup of tea, he could understand his appeal among a certain section of wrestling fans. Cornette also went on to praise Omega’s athletic ability, and claimed that he was better suited to New Japan than the American audience.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
Jim Cornette psychoanalyzes Kenny Omega: “I am going to say some good things about Kenny Olivier [Omega] in this little segment here or at least some positive things. My overall opinion has not changed, but I can see at this point, not only can I see where some segment of the people would like what this guy does over there, but also, I believe I may have psychoanalyzed him based on the production that we saw from the Tokyo Dome. You can see on his face when he gets in and he does the poses, the whole thing, this I think is what he thinks he is and has always wanted to be is a character in a cool video game with a cool outfit where he does the finger pointing and the gesturing. He’s playing a part in his mind and the wrestling was the only thing that he could figure out that he could do in the real actual existing world to be a video game character, so that’s why he became a wrestler.
Jim Cornette on ‘The Cleaner’ gimmick: “That’s why he’s had these bizarre views about wrestling, he’s never given a shit about the conventions of wrestling or the origins of wrestling or he wants to expand what we can do with our art because wrestling was his venue to be a video game character. To not be Tyson, whoever he is, but this person he’s created in his mind, Kenny Omega ‘The Cleaner’ in a video game. And I know people are going to say, well, goddam, a lot of guys create gimmicks in wrestling. Yes, at least they were earmarked for wrestling, they created wrestling gimmicks, they didn’t create a gimmick for something else and then figured the only way he could really get a chance to do it and wear all those cool outfits and do that cool shit was to be a wrestler, but that’s why he doesn’t care about wrestling. Can you say that anything he’s ever said that has been reported in public would contradict that thought?”
Jim Cornette on Kenny Omega being a better fit in New Japan: “I can understand in this environment, in this presentation, why you would like Kenny. Because he does treat this more seriously over there, you can tell this is his fantasy. I know this is the big show with the Dome but still, anything I see from him over there, he works harder. I mean, you can’t make that goofy face of his serious throughout the whole match, he’s gonna make some goofy faces and he’s gonna do some stupid little things. But he works harder, he treats it more seriously, he does the acrobatics, but they’ve got a little more snap to them and that’s the thing, his acrobatics are flawless.”
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