A top NJPW name has detailed how Kenny Omega’s NJPW return has came together.
At NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17, Kenny Omega will make his return to New Japan Pro Wrestling to face Will Ospreay for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship.
This will mark the first NJPW bout for Omega since losing the IWGP Heavyweight Championship to Hiroshi Tanahashi at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 13.
Tensions and barbs have been traded between Omega and Ospreay for years on social media and in interviews until the two men met in the AEW World Trios Championship tournament this past summer.
Speaking with Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp, NJPW’s Rocky Romero detailed how Kenny Omega returning to New Japan came together. He said:
“Kenny kind of knew where he wanted to go storyline was, but the pieces of the puzzle weren’t really put together.”
“Kenny kind of foresaw [working with NJPW and Will Ospreay], probably not knowing when it could actually happen, but maybe in the next year. Kenny missed Forbidden Door because he was injured.”
“He was probably thinking way ahead, not knowing when. That just shows the genius of Kenny Omega. He’s kind of thinking long-term, always.”
“He’s the type of guy who is playing chess while everyone is playing checkers. Obviously, when the conversation starts to happen, could this be a matchup at Wrestle Kingdom? Yes, maybe, possibly.”
Indicating that the Brawl Out situation between CM Punk and The Elite caused a bit of an issue in their plans, Romero said:
“We start getting the ball rolling and all of a sudden, the Elite and Punk thing happens, and now it’s like, nobody knows, but if he does come back, he could most likely do Wrestle Kingdom in time.”
“Nobody knew for six or eight weeks, whatever it was, it felt like forever. Everybody was pretty stressed out about it because that’s one of the key matches to Wrestle Kingdom. Been a lot of stress.”
Omega was suspended and off of AEW television for two months following his part in an altercation that occurred with CM Punk after the All Out pay-per-view.
Further explaining how the suspension affected the plans, Rocky stated:
“It [Omega’s suspension in AEW] definitely put a pause on things. There was definitely a pause on things because nobody knew what was going to happen and what the timeline was going to be, realistically.”
“I didn’t want to be the person pushing, prying and being like, ‘Don’t forget,’ because it was obviously a very sensitive subject and what everybody went through with that wasn’t a good situation for anybody.”
Romero went on to praise Kenny’s manager Barry Bloom as being a key part of the deal for his return and how Bloom played a role in Jericho working with NJPW, saying:
“It was a touchy subject and I didn’t want to be like, ‘Hey, what about Wrestle Kingdom?’ Thank God it all unfolded quickly and we were able to get back on track super quickly.”
“Kenny’s manager [Barry Bloom] is super great to work with and we worked with him when we did the (Chris) Jericho deal.”
“There is a good relationship there and he was great about communicating between AEW and New Japan as well and keeping everyone on track.”
“There was a lot of trust there and built before, it was easy to work with because putting a deal like that together in four weeks, a lot of moving parts and contracts going back and forth, and all the red tape, it takes a lot of time, but there was enough trust of ‘we know where we’re going, this is our end goal, we’re going to make it happen and make sure everyone is happy when we get there.’”
“Obviously, with the situation with the guys being suspended or out, it definitely didn’t help, but we got there. He’s going to be there.”
Transcription via Fightful
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