Kenny Omega Fears AEW EVP Role Drove Him To Serious Illness
Kenny Omega thinks the serious illness that has kept him out of the ring for all of 2024 could be down to his AEW EVP job.
Kenny Omega has been out of action due to serious illness since December 2023. The former AEW World Champion required surgery to remove part of his intestine but as time wears on it seems Omega is edging closer to a return to the ring.
Kenny Omega’s former partners in The Elite have teased a potential showdown after sharing a grim birthday greeting with the absent star. Meanwhile, NJPW have confirmed Kenny Omega will be appearing at an upcoming show in Japan and it seems, Omega might have pangs of nostalgia for a simpler time while he’s there.
Kenny Omega Admits EVP Role A “Terrible Undertaking”
Speaking in an interview on New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s YouTube channel, Kenny Omega spoke at length about splitting his time as a wrestler and an EVP and says he wouldn’t wish the dual role on anybody:
I would never wish it upon anybody else in the world. Trust me (Omega said about being a wrestler & having an office role). I miss those days of rolling up to an arena with just my carry case. My little bag that just had my gear in it and focusing on that match, that one performance, the performance was just about me.
Instead, I’m at the arena days before trying to figure out, ‘How are we gonna make this work? How do we make this guy’s entrance work? How do we make sure all of the entrance videos are formatted? How do we make sure that the extras and the talents are fed? How do we make sure that they’re healthy? How do we make sure that we keep them healthy? What do we do if something goes wrong?’
I mean, there’s always — it’s a balancing act of a million things and if you’re not 100 percent confident in your wrestling ability and if you’re not completely dedicated and passionate, not only about the success of what you do out there but the success of the entire company and maybe even the state of professional wrestling, you can’t do it.
It’s a terrible undertaking, and as much as The Young Bucks have betrayed me as of recently, I couldn’t have done it without them. It was really a group effort. But, (Hiroshi) Tanahashi now doing it all by himself with the help of a lot of talented group of people here. I understand the burden that it weighs on him and for him to still be an active professional wrestler, for him to still be in any title picture is nothing short of a miracle.
With Kenny Omega recovering from illness, he admits he’s been questioning if having two jobs that require plenty of mental and physical energy have left him in the state he’s in:
It really allowed for me to step back now that I’m resting from a serious illness and I’m thinking, man, was it all of this on the same plate? Is that what drove me to being this way? The answer’s probably yeah. Short answer of that.
But I mean, I did it for the state of wrestling and I did it because I wanted to help people, help fans. I just wanted to help unite people all over the world, lovers of professional wrestling. People that have never watched wrestling and maybe could find a love for it and you know, did I sacrifice a bit of my physical and mental health for it? Sure. But yeah, I’m still standing and I think it’s much like Tanahashi, it’s a passion that fuels us.