Does time really heal all wounds?
On the latest episode of Wrestlers on the Road Ordering Room Service, Kenny Omega joins Matt and Nick Jackson to talk about their careers. Towards the tail end of the video, the topic of Wrestle Kingdom 13 comes up and how the trio made their departure from New Japan Pro Wrestling.
For Omega, his exit from New Japan is still a sore subject.
“Once they knew I was going, they did whatever they could, they did a complete media blitz to make it look like I was this terrible person. That’s what inspired me to make the video. I fronted the whole thing because I knew it wasn’t going to clear. I handed it to them, edited and everything, and they’re like, ‘We’re not showing that.’ You’re not showing it? The President didn’t like it, Gedo didn’t like it. Thankfully, I owned it, so ‘Here ya go, Nick.’ You put it up on BTE, it got a ton of media and press, went viral right away, and then NJPW hit me up and was like, ‘So if we edit the parts we didn’t like, can we use that video? Can you guys give it to New Japan World?’ I’m like, ‘Oh, sorry, I already gave it to Nick.”
Omega continued:
“When I think about the business of it, I don’t have any gripes with it. Okay, it was a bad business decision. You made a bad call. I do take it personally, though. I take it personally because a lot of fans were crushed. I think it was very irresponsible to do that. They tried to cover for it by making a new version of me when they should have let everyone be themselves. I think now, they’re getting into that groove.”
Nick Jackson also added following their exits from ROH and New Japan, AEW offered to work with both companies, but never heard back from them.
Knowing AEW was set to launch, how do you feel New Japan handled the departure of Kenny Omega?