The One Thing EVERYONE Always Gets Wrong About AEW
In parallel, in AEW, Omega from Full Gear '22 onwards, worked the Trios division. The Elite overcame Death Triangle in a sensational, eclectic and constantly interesting Best of Seven series that brought into focus how spoiled the wrestling fandom is for great action. As awesome it was - the shocking CM Punk bird-flip in Chicago, the penultimate Falls Count Anywhere war in which not one beat of the frenzied action was remotely telegraphed - it was still perceived in some circles as beneath Omega.
His work on AEW television subsequent to that - and post-Wrestle Kingdom - was inscrutable to some. His work in the Trios division operates on two levels. Firstly, it is/was a necessary means of preserving his repaired body. The genre allows him to enter the ring for more short bursts. He's a match layout expert to such an extent that he is able to obscure that he isn't working to the demands of his old NJPW schedule without short-changing his fans. Re-watch the loss to the House of Black at Revolution. Omega was out of this world great in it, but watch closely. He makes the spaces between moves matter with his unparalleled physical timing. Were he and Malakai Black a millisecond off in their martial arts-inspired evasive exchange, they'd have broke one another's noses. As it happens, in the most exciting phases of the match, no pain was endured. Omega is very careful about stamping his bump card, but his Trios matches are exhilarating nonetheless.
Secondly - and more importantly - Omega's mixed storyline success in the division allows AEW to revive its key story, something they intend on building as the longest in the history of the episodic TV medium. The Kenny Omega Vs. Hangman Page story is far from over, is creeping back into the forefront of the narrative, and relies on Omega to occupy a certain position on the card for it to resonate with the heft intended.
Still, Omega pissing about backstage with a basketball, to build an irreverent NBA tie-in match with Top Flight and AR Fox, was some contrast to his exploits at the Tokyo Dome. The contrast was too glaring for many. The near-total lack of build to the House of Black match didn't help the idea that Omega was too content working fun (and possibly even self-indulgent) matches with his friends.
Why couldn’t Kenny Omega take himself and his presentation as star more seriously?
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