14 Ups & 4 Downs For AEW In 2020
4. Kenny Omega Becomes A Star On North American TV
They said he couldn't do it. They said he was too affected, too indulgent with his epic-length main events, too keen to lose early at the expense of his own star-power.
To quote the man himself: "You fools".
He had a plan, he enacted it, and in doing so, Omega across Dynamite and Impact (!) created the most buzz of any pro wrestler in 2020. Nobody could quite articulate that hilarious expression he pulled following his Eliminator squash win over Sonny Kiss. It became very clear following the events of Winter Is Coming, after he entered yet another incredible performance of narrative depth and physicality in a match based around the swerve of a gentleman's agreement.
The weirdly prevalent idea that Omega was a bust on TV was laughable, but perhaps it wasn't. His character work was so subtle that the medium didn't meet his ambition nor recognise his greatness. Watch his World Tag Team Title win over SCU on the Jericho Cruise Dynamite, and indeed the prior episode. He requested from Kazarian a gentleman's contest. Kazarian broke it by dumping Hangman Page straight on his head, in reaction to which Omega went ballistic. How this eventually informed his heel turn is the sort of deep thought only Omega's consciousness can summon.
In a tremendous flex, Omega later created a caricature of the Cleaner persona to drive the point home for the less perceptive, whose faces he rubbed with the sh*t of his hilariously extravagant entrance.
I'm a star, are you happy now? I have three phases of music and yet more hot women with brooms!