Kenny Omega Paints A Grim Picture Of Wrestling's Future (AEW News)
The AEW International Champion has concerns...
AEW's Kenny Omega has expressed his concerns over the future of professional wrestling.
In an interview with Adi Shankar, creator of the Devil May Cry series on Netflix, the current AEW International champion amongst various other topics discussed the increased focus on social media influencers. It should be noted in bold, since the tone of these things is so often missed - or wilfully misinterpreted! - that Omega was more philosophical than outright critical. One of the best wrestlers in the world had this to say:
"I think we're headed on a path where it's like, a couple of WrestleManias down the road, the main event's gonna be Logan Paul Vs. Mr. Beast. It's like, what is the wrestling acumen? How many miles have they put into it? It's like, does it matter? This is process of evolution."
This isn't the first time Omega has opined on Logan Paul; back in April 2024, Omega on a Twitch stream wondered aloud whether Logan Paul's ability to convince some fans that he's a fantastic wrestler does in fact make him one. Could Paul, without the benefit of calculated preparation time, walk into a NJPW G1 Climax and deliver a "banger" every night?
Omega was skeptical.
Opinion - Omega's Concerns Are Not Unfounded
Kenny Omega's concerns are not unfounded - even if there's a note of irony to his comments. On another Twitch stream - Omega was active on the platform when recovering from a torturous bout of diverticulitis - Omega last year questioned Dave Meltzer's inflated star rating scale, suggesting that Dave no longer understands what a good match is anymore, because Omega "f*cked something up in his brain". Meltzer believed Omega was working, and while Kenny does add layers to his stories in interviews, there's a recurring theme to his words in recent years.
Wrestling is in an era of homogenised style. There's a checklist of tropes available to the modern pro wrestler, and a considerable number of them draw on it to get a pop. Finisher spam. A convoluted series of counters. The defiant one-count kick-out (that Kenny without inventing popularised this decade, incidentally). This sort of thing was once described by Omega on X as "EZ 5's". He seems to think it's too easy to perform a soulless emulation of his work to draw critical acclaim. Looking at the state of the scale, and the new vernacular of pro wrestling - in which so many "generational" wrestlers are apparently "cooking" every week - it's hard to disagree with him.
Omega is one of the most thoughtful and creative wrestlers of all-time. If he's genuinely a bit annoyed, you can't blame him, either.