THIS Is Really The Best Wrestling Storyline Happening Right Now

Kenny Omega AEW IMPACT AAA champion
IMPACT Wrestling

It's a meta approach to storytelling, or perhaps even a subjective interpretation, that doesn't require any intimate understanding of behind the scenes discourse to get over. At its core, whether Omega's super-fans are urged to believe that this is all some grotesque psychological projection or otherwise, this is still a classic tale of babyface versus heel. It's a tale of a super-gilded, indomitable villain with the most devastating, protected deathblow in the game versus a man of the disenchanted, terrified people.

If all of this reads as earnest and melodramatic and heavy going, it isn't. Omega is hyper-entertaining in the role. He's a fabulously hubristic piece of sh*t who will tell a piss-funny joke before booting beloved midcard babyfaces right in the balls. As is Page; knowing that this mode of storytelling is lofty, he grounds everything by quipping, drinking beer and kicking ass in snug, explosive matches and the wild angles that have highlighted AEW's awesome return to touring.

This saga is even better than it is in itself.

Consider the unreal, shared universe elegance of it all. The events of Full Gear 2020 and Winter Is Coming, across which the Elite won the gold, arranged the dynamic and the respective divisions with such deftness. FTR had worked every team of note in quality weekly defences. Jon Moxley's run also ended at the perfect time. Hangman Page plunged to his lowest ebb at the perfect, most affecting time. He had to restore himself over a period of several months, and during those months, Omega cast an even more imposing, credible shadow as the Belt Collector. At exactly the same time, AEW crowned a new heel World Champion and mired Hangman in crisis to seed this incredible long-term saga. The amount of thought applied to all of this is staggering. The corrosive influence of Don Callis is the perfect means of presenting Omega as a true - albeit deeply corrupted - babyface. One One-Winged Angel later, and another arc can begin anew. AEW is telling two redemptive arcs at once. Kenny Omega does indeed think in years.

CONT'D...(4 of 6)

Advertisement
In this post: 
Kenny Omega
 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and surefire Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!