Kenny Omega On Bringing Back Heel Persona, Chris Jericho As First AEW Champion, Why Fans Should Change View Of How Wrestling Works

In a recent interview on Talk Is Jericho, Kenny Omega discussed bringing back his heel persona, why Chris Jericho was the right choice for the first AEW World Champion, changing wrestling fans’ perception, and much more. You can read his comments below.

Kenny Omega on bringing back his heel persona and why Chris Jericho was the right choice for first AEW World Champion: “The way I looked at it was that, I was always confident in my own abilities. It’s easy for people to hope for you to fail. It’s easy for people to say that you failed at something, and people enjoy doing that. People enjoy being able to say, ‘You’re not as good as my favorite. You’re not as good as the guy that I invested in that I’ve been cheering for.’ People like to choose sides and when you’re not on their side or when you’re not representing them, they would like to find a way to make their favorite better than you. So, I knew that I was gonna have naysayers. I knew I was gonna have critics. What people didn’t realize was that I knew I could turn it around on a moment’s notice. I knew that any time I wanted to make it my time, it was there for the taking, of course. I knew from the beginning if it felt right, maybe I should be the guy that commands the throne of AEW. It wasn’t my time. It was yours, Chris [Jericho], and that’s fine. I think you being the first inaugural champion of AEW was the best decision in the best move we could have made. I think you added a lot of respect to that belt.

“So, for me to do what I did in the tag division, for me to do what I did with AEW Games – all of our side ventures, my supplement deal, all the stuff I’m doing with anime and gaming, all that sort of things – I was able to actually take more time and invest into that. I remember someone was telling me it’s always good to have a plan B. I thought, ‘OK, if I’m not gonna be the champion, if I’m not going to be the focus, let’s make that plan B, C, D, E, F, all the way to Z and when it’s time, sure, I’ll take the company by the reins and steer it into a new direction.’ It took me a long time to do it and knowing that I had to do it in a breakneck pace, I knew I needed help, and that’s where you came in. So everything’s been going well. And again, I always knew that we could do it and I’m just glad I’ve got [Don Callis] along for the ride and I hope people enjoy it. I hope that people that are tuning in for the first time or the people that have watched since the beginning are going to enjoy what we bring to the table because it’s something you’ve never seen before or at least something haven’t seen in a long time.”

On why wrestling fans should change notion of how wrestling works: “It is the empty cup analogy. You don’t arrive to a lesson with the cup half full or three-quarters full. Come with an empty cup. That way you can learn everything that we’re about to teach. A lot of people have preconceived notions about how wrestling should be. They’re judging based on what they’ve seen in the years that they’ve watched professional wrestling. People that have the open mind that come to watch these shows, they’re the ones that are going to benefit the most out of this. The wrestlers that watch what we do, that study what we do with an open mind, they’re the ones who may take our position when we’re about ready to pack it in.

“But it’s the ones that feel that wrestling has to be a certain way, that wrestling has to be the way that it was done by one man, Vince McMahon, who had the empty cup, right? He was the one who paved the way for everything. If they’re not like that, don’t expect to change anything. Just expect to be a cog in the machine of professional wrestling. Don’t expect just to be another fan, another number that everyone counts in the big ratings war. It’s not about numbers, it’s not about being a worker ant to the queen. This is about us doing what we think we’re capable of and that’s changing the way that you watch wrestling, the way you think about wrestling, the way that you’re emotionally invested in wrestling, and also to expect the unexpected, which people haven’t been able to do for a number of years now.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit Talk Is Jericho with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.