Kenny Omega's AEW Return Confirmed

The Best Bout Machine has been absent from AEW programming since December.

by Andrew Pollard
Kenny Omega
AEW

Having been absent from AEW programming since December, Kenny Omega has been announced for the 1 May episode of AEW Dynamite.

This announcement was made by Winnipeg's Canada Life Centre, which is the venue that'll be hosting that particular edition of Dynamite. Of course, Winnipeg is Omega's hometown.

For those anticipating a return to the ring for Kenny Omega, that seems incredibly unlikely. Regardless, an appearance from the Best Bout Machine will be extremely well received by the AEW fanbase, particularly by those in attendance at the Canada Life Centre.

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Back on 15 December, Omega took to X to announce he'll be taking an indefinite absence from AEW after being diagnosed with diverticulitis. The Canadian is still yet to undergo surgery for this issue, although he is expected to be going under the knife at some point in the future. As such, there isn't even a loose timetable on when we might see Kenny back in in-ring action.

Kenny Omega last wrestled on the 9 December AEW Collision from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where he picked up a win over Ethan Page. Prior to his absence, Omega was scheduled to team with Chris Jericho to face Ricky Starks and Big Bill for the AEW Tag Team Titles at Worlds End. That bout would wind up being replaced by Jericho, Sting, Darby Allin, and Sammy Guevara taking on Starks, Bill, Konosuke Takeshita, and Powerhouse Hobbs.

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More recent months have seen Kenny active on his Twitch channel, where he's been happy to discuss an array of topics with his viewers, including CM Punk, his role as an EVP, and Uganda's SGW.

 
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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.