Kenny Omega Weighs In On His Hopes For Eventual Retirement, Talks His Current Health

Kenny Omega hopes that when it’s time for him to retire, AEW is built up to the point that no one even notices. The former AEW World Champion is one of the company’s top stars. However, he knows that there is an eventual end date, particularly as he deals with diverticulitis. The condition has kept him out of the ring for large swaths of the past couple of years and he’s had to adjust his career to manage it.

Omega was asked about his health during an interview with SHAK Wrestling. He noted that it’s a constant adjustment to balance his health and find his safe limit as a performer. However, he said he is gaining confidence in where he’s at. He also noted that when he does have to retire, he hopes AEW has built enough stars that his exit is not something that affects the company. You can see highlights below:

On Finding His New Normal With His Condition:

“Yeah, that’s the million-dollar question. It’s very difficult to test your limit and find your limit when what I have affects me kind of day-by-day. Some days I feel great, some days I don’t. So not only do I have to find my limit and how far I can push myself on the days I feel good, but I have to find that limit for on the days when I feel bad. Because like I said earlier before, the show must go on… I’ve got to go out there and I’ve got to give my best.

“And not only do I have to do that but I’m trying to do that without making it very clearly obvious that there are bad days and good days for Kenny Omega. I just want to do the best that I can. I don’t want people to have to worry about me, and I want to be able to do a performance that I can be proud of and that my opponent can benefit from without people having to worry and without even further endangering myself too, on top of that.”

On His Current Health:

“In terms of my current health, the odd part about that is, is as much wear and tear as I have on my body, that’s not what’s preventing me from performing at the level that I want to be at. It’s a sickness, and I could not have prepared myself for it. I never saw it coming. I’ve always been trying to strive for the best physical health that I could possibly be in. You know, I don’t miss my vitamins. I make sure to take all my vitamins and supplementation to keep myself healthy. Not to get big; not to look like a bodybuilder. To keep myself healthy and to keep myself in a state where I can perform at a high level. So for that to just happen, that’s just probably bad luck.

”You can never know when when something like that will happen to you. So if anything, it’s — I didn’t learn to regret any decisions that I made. Maybe I learned to appreciate the moment more. Because you never know when something might swing by, when something might appear in your life that changes everything.”

On What He Hopes For His Retirement:

“I would like to be in a situation where I left the ring not having any regrets and not feeling embarrassed or that I tarnished my own reputation. So I would like to leave when I have some semblance of athleticism left in my body. I don’t want to completely work until the wheels fall off, and that the person who leaves wrestling is one that barely resembles the Kenny Omega of old.

“So I’ve been thinking a lot about when that timing would be. And one important thing for me too, is that when I finally do leave, whenever that may be. This might sound odd, but I don’t want people to be sad. In fact, the best-case scenario for me would be that they don’t realize I’m gone at all. I would love to build people, or have the peace of mind that the company has built enough stars so that their star is shining bright enough to distract from me stepping away from the scene. That would make me the happiest.”