Don Callis Explains His Influence on Kenny Omega Choosing Wrestling Over Hockey

-Speaking recently with Talk is Jericho, Don Callis discussed the influence he had on the career of Kenny Omega when Omega was still a teenager and was also interested in playing hockey. Below are some highlights (via WrestlingInc.com):

Don Callis 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.”

At Sunday’s AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door II, Will Ospreay defeated Kenny Omega to recapture the IWGP US Heavyweight Championship. Callis and his security escorted Ospreay to the ring for the matchup.