Kenny Omega On AEW Closing The Gap: "WWE Is Desperate"
The AEW World Champion on WWE vs. AEW, the Forbidden Door, NJPW, and more.
Kenny Omega believes WWE is getting desperate as AEW continues closing the gap on the market leaders.
Japanese publication Tokyo Sports released a new interview with the AEW World Champion on Sunday (26 September), during which Omega was asked about the wrestling industry's changing power structure. Kenny responded by saying that there was no longer a massive gap between WWE and AEW, citing WWE's overreliance on returning legends when calling the promotion "desperate" (h/t Hige Channel for the translation):-
"At the start, there was a huge gap between WWE and AEW. (AEW) was just some fledgling promotion after all. But have you realized how the tables have turned? WWE is desperate. They keep bringing back legends every other week. COVID is a terrible thing, and we never wanted it to happen but it is what it is."
A number of metrics support Kenny's point on AEW closing the gap. Last week's Grand Slam in New York City show saw AEW announce a sellout attendance of 20,177, outdrawing WWE's 10 September show in the same market, which attracted 13,323 attendees. In addition, AEW Dynamite outdid WWE Raw in the key 18-49 demographic for the weeks commencing 13 and 20 September, which was the first time this has happened.
This shows a clear progression from the corresponding weeks in 2020, when AEW was outdone 0.50 vs. 0.34 and 0.50 vs. 0.32 respectively. The gap still exists - but it's no longer a chasm.
Omega also spoke on AEW's working relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling, saying that are "no constraints" on what can happen between the two promotions:-
"We’re really open. One of the goals the Young Bucks and myself have is that we have an open policy with every promotion out there, and we hope to make the best contents out of it. And we’ve indeed made such a place. And we were able make such a place because, regardless of what anyone else have said, we are confident and are grounded enough to defend our achievements and pride until now. You’ve seen Suzuki Minoru and Kojima Satoshi performing at our regular events with crowds of 10,000~20,000. There’s no constraints behind this. If they have the confidence to come here, I’d love to see them step up to the plate."
Suzuki became the latest wrestler to step through the Forbidden Door at All Out 2021 (5 September), confronting Jon Moxley. Kojima fell in a match with the former AEW World Champion on that same show.
Having defeated Suzuki and Lance Archer at Grand Slam, Moxley and Eddie Kingston will now benefit from the AEW/NJPW working relationship swinging the other way, rematching with the Suzuki-gun duo at New Japan STRONG's Showdown tapings in Philadelphia, PA on 17 October.