Rocky Romero Recalls Gedo Deciding Kenny Omega Would Be The Next Top NJPW Star

Kenny Omega became one of NJPW’s biggest stars because of Gedo

Jack Atkins side view with black and white filter

Sep 23, 2022

Tetsuya Naito, Kenny Omega

When Kenny Omega took over Bullet Club in New Japan, he became one of the biggest stars in the company, helping BC reach new heights, and putting on a series of classic matches.

Omega’s rise was in part facilitated by the NJPW exit of former Bullet Club leader AJ Styles, and during an appearance on Bobby Fish’s Undisputed Podcast, Rocky Romero recalls how NJPW head booker Gedo decided that Omega was to be the next big star:

“So we were all back there, we were making the match, right? This is like a day before the Tokyo Dome and I knew what was gonna happen because obviously, Karl [Anderson] and [Doc] Gallows, we’re really tight and they had kind of told me the night before that, ‘Hey, we’re gonna talk to the bossman and let him know that we’re out of here and AJ’s going and we’re gonna leave right after him’ so… So we’re all trying to make the match but I remember The [Young] Bucks and I were invested in these two, like trying to make the match but also really trying to watch what was going to happen in this whole conversation when they broke the news to Gedo that they were leaving, they were on their way out. So, we kind of watched the whole thing and that was also the day that we saw — literally, I saw Gedo like, ‘Oh sh*t, you guys are leaving, AJ’s leaving.’ He’s like, ‘Oh man.’

“He’s totally feeling it and then he kind of scans the room and then he just sees Kenny [Omega] and then it’s like, okay, AJ’s out and you could see it in his face. He just locked eyes on Kenny, was like, okay, Kenny’s the guy now. All this kind of happened right at the same time. It was pretty cool and kind of interesting, you know, kind of what happened after that because AJ was out, BULLET CLUB, Gallows and Anderson left, Shinsuke [Nakamura] left and then it was literally like the next night after the Tokyo Dome was the big angle where Omega lifts up AJ and drops him on his head and then now, Kenny takes over the BULLET CLUB and then you see the rise of Omega’s BULLET CLUB or whatever so, yeah, just pretty crazy. Crazy time,” said Romero.

In February 2016 Omega would win the IWGP Intercontinental Championship, and would later add the United States Championship, IWGP Heavyweight Championship, and 2016 G1 Climax to his list of honours.

H/T: POST Wrestling

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