10 Wrestlers Who Got Pissed Off At Critics

7. Kenny Omega

Booker T Dave Meltzer
Being The Elite

If you're going to respond to critics, in a manner in which you're not not pissed off, at least have the decency to be funny or interesting about it.

Enter Kenny Omega.

Ahead of the AEW Dynamite launch, in a blurry interview, he claimed that the NXT roster was only capable of working a dark match on his show. This was obvious and insincere hyperbole - Adam Cole, for one, is a man Omega respects a great deal - consistent with his Best Bout Machine persona. It was lost on NXT's Dominick Dijakovic, who spat his dummy.

He mentioned that he once worked a better match on a PWG show than Omega which, while true, was a bit like Scotty 2 Hotty claiming to be better than The Rock because the Backlash 2000 Light Heavyweight Title match was better than the main event.

But then, Omega is (rightly) abundant in self-confidence - his persona is the Best Bout Machine - so this inspired much debate about the extent to which he believed it, which one gathers was its express purpose. However, the interview did follow murmurs, resulting from two consecutive, mere **** performances across Double Or Nothing and Fight For The Fallen, that Omega had peaked.

After orchestrating a minor talking point, he addressed it on Being The Elite.

And it was absolutely great. He further played with the fiction, claiming he was speaking in character, before speaking out of it when the camera "cut" on his apology.

After a rant that, if not defensive, certainly defended his position, he rechristened Dijakovic 'Donovan D*ckhead'. This was hilarious, and inspired, because he knew damn well that Keith Lee's mate has the most difficult name of any wrestler to remember, because they keep changing it, or spell.

He knew it would stick.

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!