10 Secret AEW Storyline Details Hiding In Plain Sight

3. Kenny Omega Opens ANOTHER Forbidden Door In Plain Sight

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Impact Wrestling

At Impact Wrestling 2021, Kenny Omega sported a Bullet Club t-shirt before teaming with the Good Brothers to defeat Rich Swann, Moose and Chris Sabin.

The pay-per-view took place on January 16, 2021. This is important.

The internet was curious in the aftermath: wasn't the Bullet Club the intellectual property of New Japan Pro Wrestling, a promotion that Wrestling Twitter knows isn't remotely fond of its IP appearing absolutely anywhere beyond official channels?

Dave Meltzer was asked about this seemingly flagrant trolling, and answered that there was "nothing at all" to it, and that Omega hadn't requested permission beforehand.

Omega does nothing by accident, and he has a history of telling the beats of a story via fabric. He won't remove his t-shirt when he doesn't respect a certain opponent (incidentally, ahead of his Grand Slam match with Bryan Danielson, he mirrored the Dragon's plain white tee, both suggesting that he did in fact respect Danielson and foreshadowing the draw).

As it transpired, there was something to it; AEW and NJPW had secretly struck a working relationship, as was made clear when NJPW's KENTA swung open the Forbidden Door at AEW Dynamite: Beach Break on February 3, 2021.

Omega, a scamp, just wanted you to dream of the possibility before it was realised.

 
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Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!