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Kenny Omega Talks AEW Dynasty, The Next Gen, and AJ Styles (Exclusive)

Kenny Omega faces MJF for the World Championship at AEW Dynasty Sunday, April 12.

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Kenny Omega is considered by fans and industry professionals to be one of the greatest professional wrestlers ever. He managed to do what others have failed to do: conquer the wrestling world without ever touching WWE. From Canada to Japan to Ring of Honor, and for the last 7 years, AEW, Omega is the foundation of the house that Tony Khan built.

In late 2023, he suffered a severe bout of diverticulitis that nearly ended his life. The injury targets the colon, creating small pouches known as Diverticula. These cause inflammation and pain to the host. He managed to recover and return to the ring, something Omega wishes he had waited longer to do.

“I’m just still a little tiny bit on the mend, because it’s a process that takes a long time. Plus, I came back way too early, so I hindered my own full recovery because of the schedule that I took [on] probably a year and a half too soon, which it is what it is, but we here we are. Finally, I’ve been able to find the equation. I’ve been able to figure out a diet, a workout plan, and a way to stay as healthy as possible and get results, which is the most important part. It was really difficult to regain usable energy. It was tough to feel like I had any spring left in my step.”

For a talent like Omega, he’s once in a generation and he’s got the mindset of someone like that, too. I ask what it is that’s still driving him to want to compete at a high level. Omega ponders the question for a beat, circling back to those days he feels like the “old” him.

“I think for people like me, there’s an excitement in the challenge of doing something that maybe you have no business still doing. And like I said, there are days when I don’t feel so great still, but then there are days when I do feel great. When I’m at the gym, whether it be with a large group of people, or whether I’m just with one training partner, even heck, just by myself, I’m monitoring myself when I have those great days. I think, ‘My goodness, where is this energy coming from today? Where is the strength coming from today?’ This is the type of stuff the old Kenny Omega could be doing. In certain cases, there are improvements even on that old version of me. I’ll see little hints of that every now and then. I think I need to make a run for it; I need to make an effort. I need to at least try, because I don’t want this to go to waste. I don’t want to feel like I have regrets, either.”

Despite his setbacks from injury, Omega appears to be in the best........

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