Kenny Omega is currently the most overrated wrestler in AEW
Despite having had one of the longest AEW World Champion reigns, does Kenny Omega really compare to the best on the roster?
Omega began his wrestling career back in 2001, and after a brief stint in Canada and WWE’s developmental territories, the future world champion nearly hung up his boots. However, after reinventing himself in 2008 and eventually going off to Japan, Kenny Omega found the success in pro wrestling he sought out years prior.
The Hot Take begins: Kenny Omega’s success in Japan doesn’t translate into the Western audience
Hardcore fans of The Cleaner will likely recall the 2008-2014 period of his career as the time he cemented himself as a major name in Japan and ROH. However, it wasn’t until the 2014-2017 period when he joined “The Bullet Club” and formed “The Elite” that many began to take note of Kenny Omega. During this time, Kenny would win championship gold but he still never reached the top.
It wasn’t until 2018, that he finally captured the now-retired IWGP Heavyweight Championship belt against Kazuchika Okada. This title reign lasted a significant time, but Kenny Omega ultimately lost the belt to Hiroshi Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom 13.
Shortly thereafter, he formed All Elite Wrestling with Cody Rhodes, The Young Bucks and Tony Khan. However, unlike the scores of his hardcore fans, few people in the Western audience are familiar with Omega’s exploits in Japan.
The Cleaner’s AEW career is ultimately the only part of his career that matters:
There’s no denying that his time in ROH and Japan included some of his best matches, and that’s where the problem lies. AEW Kenny Omega hardly compares to the legendary tales of his Japan run. His run as the Belt Collector was undoubtedly impressive. During this time, he even captured the IMPACT World Championship. Sadly, his 2021 injury and the following eight-month recovery set him back as well as the drama with CM Punk shortly after he returned.
Across his AEW run, Kenny Omega’s best feuds all took place during his World Championship run, wherein he faced the likes of Chris Jericho and Bryan Danielson. It could be argued that Omega has toned things down due to his injuries, which is why he mainly wrestled in tag team matches and stayed far away from the bigger names on the roster.
AEW stars like MJF, Christian Cage and Ricky Starks have been involved in far more memorable storylines and matches. While only MJF has won the World Championship, both Cage and Starks have managed to be more compelling before they captured gold.
Despite this, Kenny Omega still has time to win over fans like me. However, collectively, we have yet to see anything from the star in AEW that would explain why he’s called “The Best Bout Machine.”
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