Kenny Omega Eyes Emotional Homecoming

Kenny Omega told Canada’s TSN he is excited about returning to his hometown of Winnipeg for Dynamite tonight.

“I don’t want to embarrass myself for the sake of the rich heritage and traditions of professional wrestling that we have seen in Winnipeg. So for me now where I’m in this position where people might actually look at my performance and say, ‘I want to do what this guy does’ or ‘I’ve already decided do it and I like what he’s doing and I’m going to use this as a reference piece or as study material.’ That part really blows my mind because I’ve yet to see myself in that light. But I do accept the responsibility of it and I think that’s why I take my position within the company very seriously,” he said.

Omega’s health does weigh on his mind though after a long battle with diverticulitis.

“I do feel lucky that I’ve had somewhat of this second lease on my wrestling career in AEW. I didn’t know if I would be able to step up and do main event-level matches and here we are. I’ve had a number of them recently and I felt like I can handle it. I can handle that workload and, as luck would have it, it coincides with this Canadian tour. It’s great that while I do feel healthy enough to perform and have these matches that people can enjoy live, that I’m able to do it in Canada now, too. So lucky timing, but not for an absence of hard work,” he said.

Omega thanked AEW for supporting him through his recovery.

“I was very happy and fortunate that I had a whole support structure around me, whether it be my boss or my physio people, the trainers at AEW, who made sure to always monitor my condition and say, like, ‘Hey, something’s a little off. Do you feel off in this way?’ And if I said yes or no or what have you, we would then tackle it from there. So there was a point in time when I thought, I think I should be getting better as long as I just hunker down and go for it. That was actually the time I needed to take a step back. So being kind of tactful about this, being smart about it and not pushing too far, too soon really helped me to feel the way that I do now, which I do believe is actually light years beyond where I was at before,” he said.

When he does eventually hang up his boots, Omega wants to be remembered for being a solid performer.

“I would love for the memory of Kenny Omega, in ring, to be one that people can look back with fondness, rather than, ‘Well, Kenny was pretty good, and then, boy, he just kinda stunk up the joint for years after that.’ I don’t want that to be what comes to people’s minds when they think of my career. So I’d rather just back out with a little bit of honour before that happens…I think my retirement will be the kind that happens and you haven’t even realized that it’s happened. Eventually, I’m just going to start showing up less and less and less and before you know it, I’ll be a fleeting thought and someone might go, ‘Hey, remember that Kenny Omega guy?’ And people might say, ‘Yeah’ or maybe they’ll say, ‘No, who was he?’ and I’m fine with that. I’m totally cool with that. I’ve always been a very private person, and it makes me feel awkward and kind of like embarrassed when the spotlight’s on me too much. I know it sounds very odd, but I really do feel that way, especially with retirement, too, because it’s such a finicky subject but I do think that when I’m gone, I’ll just sort of slowly fade out of it. I never want to say that I’m done, done, done because one of the greatest professional wrestlers to ever do it, Terry Funk, he sorta retired like 14 different times. I don’t want to be that guy… so I’d rather just not say it, and if I stop showing up, so be it,” he said.