Kenny Omega Speaks On AEW All Out Brawl, ‘Ominous’ Atmosphere, Why It Didn’t Turn Out Like Other Spats

AEW Trios Champion Kenny Omega was a guest on The Sessions with Renee Paquette. Omega gave what thoughts he could about his injuries, returning to AEW after eight months off, and the fall-out of the infamous CM Punk press conference and subsequent brawl involving Punk and the Young Bucks. Read on for the highlights:

On what injuries he got addressed during his absence: “I thought, man. We are up to multiple procedures now that I need to get done. I had to get both of my knees done. I had to get a shoulder done. I had to get my septum fixed, and then they get a stomach hernia. So there’s a lot. So knowing that I had to get all those things done, it felt like they were more minor surgeries? But I ended up being out for eight months. But I felt like the company was in a fantastic position. I felt that the story I was able to tell with Hangman was one that I was very proud of, and I felt that the people were behind him. I was happy that we were moving forward in a direction that didn’t necessarily require me. I felt that now is a good time to get this stuff taken care of.”

On the locker room feeling strange when he returned: “Then I felt like eight months had passed, and it was time to come back. It was kind of like… the gif, y’know? Of the dude walking in with the pizza boxes and the whole room is on fire? And I didn’t get it. I was like, what’s with this strange atmosphere? What’s with this strange aura? Why does something feel so ominous right now? I didn’t even know. I couldn’t figure it out. Next thing you knew, there was more stuff happening (laughs).”

On the events leading up to Brawl Out feeling surreal: “Again, like, it’s so surreal because it’s almost like it never even happened. It happened, of course it happened! I hadn’t even gotten re-familiarized with my surroundings yet backstage with the ‘new’ AEW at that point. There are new people in the locker room, and a lot had happened in eight months. So to kind of come back and see a lot of old faces and be like, hey, but then feel this eerie sort of… to feel like I was in Eerie, Indiana for a second. Like, oh boy. And then stranger things started happening, where I was like… oh, man. What do I do? This isn’t right. Someone needs to be the voice of reason. This is silly. Things fell of the rails and we were just involved in a very silly situation that people are probably going to be talking about for months and possibly years to come, I don’t know.”

On why the All Out situation turned out differently than other locker room spats: “Here’s the way that I look at it. I’ve been involved in competitive sports, contact sports, at the highest level. Some people on our roster have, some people have not. I feel like, if you have, you’ve probably been in a spat or two with a teammate. And maybe sometimes, a time or two, it might come to blows, you know? It happens. So coming from that sort of background, there was a point to it all. When I felt like: this just happens, we’re gonna get over it, let’s just calm down and talk it over. We’re all doing okay over here, we’re all getting it out of our system. No problem, but let’s maybe stop? We just don’t live in that world anymore, I suppose. Sometimes there are things, especially now when you’re in a multi-million, billion dollar industry where there are sponsorships on the line, tv is on the line. It’s not like high school football, it’s not a little tiff that you might have with someone on your amateur wrestling team. Maybe someone held a submission too long in jujitsu training. It’s not that. These things shouldn’t be happening.”

On people backstage not knowing exactly what happened: “There was a while when, and I can understand the confusion, it’s sort of like, hey. We know this thing happened. We heard this thing happened. It’s all over the dirt sheets. Why don’t we know what happened? We’re gone. We’re sworn to secrecy. We can’t say anything, legally. So that was the poopy part where I was like, well, why doesn’t anyone tell us what’s happening? And then you’re forced to form your own opinion, or to come up with your own theory as to what exactly happened.”

On how fans create stories in the absence of information: “Of course, and especially when it’s like… well, I’m more of a fan of one person than another. So here’s the way that I’m going to create the story so that it puts this person in the best possible light. It might be that. Chances are it’s something else, or it might be a combination of various theories. We might never get to speak about it. What’s important was no one was seriously injured emerging from that, and I’m so thankful for that. And we’ve moved on with life. I’m completely fine, it doesn’t dictate what I do, what I say. I’m sure the Bucks are in the same boat. I can’t speak to the other parties, hopefully they’re doing well. And I mean that. That’s the sitch.”

On not being proud of the situation: “It’s a shame that the general public and people aren’t ever going to know what went down. How it could have been prevented, how it could have ended differently. That’s just how things go, again, when it’s a big business operation. I don’t think anyone is happy that it happened, or proud that it happened, or anything like that. I think across the board everyone thinks it was a terrible situation that was unnecessary.”

if using any of the above quotations, please credit The Sessions h/t 411mania for the transcription.