Kenny Omega On Leaving NJPW: "I Felt I Needed To Go To A Place Where I Could Do More."

Omega speaks about his options

Shortly after making his AEW debut at the Double or Nothing ticket announcement party outside MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Thursday night, Omega spoke candidly with Dave Meltzer and Garrett Gonzales of The Wrestling Observer. In their discussion, Omega was asked about choosing between New Japan, WWE, and AEW, and gave some honest thoughts about his now former employer.

"I look back at my career with New Japan, and there wasn't much left for me to do there," Omega conceded. "There still are goals - I still felt there was more me and Ibushi could do as a tag team, for example.

"I felt I needed to go to a place where I could do more."

Omega adds that he nearly stayed with New Japan at one juncture, noting, "I looked at all of the options, and one of the options that I almost went with was to stay full-time with New Japan, but to be a lender talent with AEW.

"My heart was in Japan, and I really do look at that place as a home. It's hard to say goodbye to something that you've given everything to."

Omega said that New Japan, "For various reasons, it wasn't the best option," and added, "Maybe the best way to put it is that the other two companies (AEW and WWE) were more excited to have me.

"AEW for me, or even WWE, kinda seemed like the next step for potential dream matches and all that. I just wanted a new platform to reach new people, to use my voice and to use my unique way of telling stories. I wanted to just change the stage that I'd been performing on."

Omega praised WWE's offer, as well as their professionalism, but noted that AEW's offer "couldn't be beat."

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Justin Henry

Written by Justin Henry

In addition to writing lists and commentaries for Cultaholic, Justin is also a features writer and interviewer for Fighting Spirit Magazine, and is co-author of the WWE-related book Titan Screwed: Lost Smiles, Stunners, and Screwjobs.