10 Surprising Wrestlers Retiring Sooner Than You Think

4. Kenny Omega

Kenny Omega
AEW

While Kenny Omega has not set a formal retirement date, certain recent quotes indicate that he's far closer to the end of his run than the beginning.

Now, Omega is incredibly media-savvy. He uses the platform in clever, manipulative ways to enhance his in-ring stories. When he spoke of his ailing body and staggering list of injuries and surgeries throughout 2022, he did so with All Out in mind: there, he revealed his bronzed, shredded upper body for the first time and wore literally sparkling attire, deploying the contrast of his pale, Kinesio-taped physique from Dynamite to awesome effect. He looked like a star, but even more so, given the anxiety he had conditioned his fanbase to feel.

So, when he spoke to the CEO Gaming channel last year, and revealed that he would be "done" if he suffered another setback in his rehabilitation, there might have been some working going on.

Nonetheless, he was very, almost profoundly broken by 2021. His match against Moose at Impact Wrestling Against All Odds verged on bleak; the man who once rampaged across the ring with unparalleled, awe-inspiring velocity barely cleared the top rope with his Terminator dive. His posture was such that he looked physically shorter than he ever had.

His masterclass with Will Ospreay at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17 in January proved that he can work an all-time great match by carefully knowing when to utilise his incredible physicality - the match was so phenomenal that it stripped the word "methodical" of its dreadful connotations - but as he disclosed to Logan Moore of ComicBook, that match, and Escalera de la Muerte, took far more out of him than he'd expected.

Contributor
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!