wrestling / News

Kenny Omega Says He’s Aware Of The Interest In Maki Itoh, Plans To Blow Up Jon Moxley On Sunday

March 5, 2021 | Posted by Joseph Lee
Kenny Omega AEW, Impact Image Credit: AEW

In an interview with The New York Post, Kenny Omega spoke about the fans wanting to see more of Maki Itoh in AEW, including those disappointed she was eliminated early from the Women’s Eliminator Tournament. Here are highlights:

On why now was the right moment for the exploding barbed wire death match: “I feel like every week is always the right moment to bring something new to the table, and that’s kind of why I tried with the weeks leading up to this match, to the pay-per-view, that there has been a lot of surprises, things you didn’t expect to see on our programing, things you didn’t expect to see in professional wrestling and this is sort of just the cherry on the sundae. After seeing Don Callis, the Good Brothers (Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows) from Impact, Kenta, there’s no better way in my mind to blow everything out of the water by just blowing each other up. That’s how we’re ending this thing.”

On why AEW doesn’t shy away from violent matches: “I still very much look at pro wrestling as an art form. I still like to consider myself the utmost professional. People like to dumb down matches with a violent stipulation. They kind of like just defer to those as garbage wrestling or that maybe we lack a certain area of expertise or talent, which is why we’re going there. For me, it’s the complete opposite. I want to be considered as one of the best well-around athletes in professional wrestling and I want to test myself in all avenues this sport has to offer. For me to do that and do that effectively, I have to have some kind of experience in these types of situations. I want to test myself with the type of wrestler who specializes in this type of stuff. And sure, I don’t think Moxley has had an exploding barbed wire deathmatch, but it’s not something out of his wheelhouse to do something very hardcore. We have this very competitive nature, the both of us, but in very different ways and I think we have very different motivations in wrestling as well, but by having this stipulation added to this match I feel like the two of us are as motivated as ever in kind of different ways. But because we are both so motivated, I do believe the stars will align and something special will emerge from this.”

On Maki Itoh: “We have been able to see Yuka Sakazaki on more than one occasion for AEW. People really took to her and they like her and she’s got some very unique qualities that make her special and a star. I also thought that Maki Itoh was one of those type of people I always thought, is this too much? Is this going to be too much for American television? She gets a little profane at times, you know what I mean. But I was always a firm believer that she would rise above it and she would translate. I loved that one of the qualities she had in the match was you actually had moments in the match where you thought she could win. I think that’s why people were a little disappointed maybe she didn’t because she wasn’t just a complete pushover and comedy character. She actually took the fight to a respectable athlete. Will we see her back? It’s not something you really answer with a yes or no because there are so many hurdles to clear to get people from country to country in this day and age due to all the travel restrictions, and she has another schedule she needs to follow in Japan which requires the mandatory two-week quarantine where you have to do nothing. But we’re not stupid. I’m not stupid. I do know there is a demand for her and I’d love people to see her live as well. It’s not even for me to decide. If I can snap my fingers and have her appear in Florida and then yeah I could easily say yes you are going to see her, but it’s more complicated than that.”

article topics :

Kenny Omega, Maki Itoh, Joseph Lee