Report: Kenny Omega Told 8/10 AEW Wrestlers He Wouldn't Have Hired Them
Details on what Kenny Omega told the AEW roster during spicy backstage meeting.
All Elite Wrestling held a backstage meeting prior to the 24 August episode of Dynamite, with the company using the opportunity to address rumours of backstage dissent, the company's new talent relations structure, contract tampering, and more.
CEO and founder Tony Khan, Vice President Pat Buck, Chris Jericho, and Kenny Omega were amongst the speakers, with Omega described as the "harshest." His approach reportedly resembled "tough love", though "heavy-handed" was also used to describe how he came across.
Now, in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer has confirmed existing rumours on what Kenny really said in the meeting.
Omega is understood to have commented that if he was in charge of AEW, he wouldn't have hired eight out of ten of the people present. Meltzer confirmed this line was definitely said.
It was interpreted in different ways, though. One side of the story is that Omega was being comedic, as he looked directly at NJPW's Will Ospreay when saying it. Omega and Ospreay have spent months building a rivalry through media appearances, so the idea was that Kenny was just messing with the Englishman. Per this account, many people laughed at the comment.
Other people, however, interpreted Omega's comments seriously and were understandably upset. Some have claimed that the speech was misinterpreted and taken out of context, but people didn't like it.
Omega also noted that AEW's locker room had more positive energy at the beginning, which may have been an attempt at recreating this with the current group.