5 Reasons Kenny Omega Vs. Will Ospreay Is A Much Bigger Deal Than You Realize

4. It couldn’t happen at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door

When the inaugural crossover event between AEW and New Japan Pro Wrestling was announced, it felt impossible to imagine it would occur without landmark NJPW alum, Kenny Omega.

However after a long time of continuing to work while injured, Kenny was taking much deserved time to have multiple surgeries and then recover from said multiple surgeries, on a timeframe that made it highly unlikely he would appear at the show.

In the lead up to AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door pay-per-view however, Kenny Omega briefly returned to media spotlight after months away and gave a candid interview with Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp.

During the interview, Omega shared his thoughts on Will Ospreay and despite mentioning that he didn’t want to say anything bad about him… he ‘accidentally’ let slip some what sounded to be at the time, true feelings.

Kenny Omega said:

“I don’t wanna say anything bad about Will. But no, OK, here’s the thing, if we’re being completely honest with each other, I do believe that with the current rating system, and how things are viewed, I believe that Will has earned every last one of those five star performances that he has had.

“Now do I think that if you go back into the works of some of the legends, I’m even going to throw my name in the hat, even if you go back to when I was having five star matches and I was sort of ‘that sort of guy’, I just think that the matches from back then were a little more memorable and as hard as Will was working, Will just isn’t quite… Will is there. [Big Sigh.] See I’m digging myself into a hole here.”

Kenny later responded that he was hoping headlines from the interview wouldn’t be reduced to the headlines that sprung forth (See: Kenny Omega Shoots On Will Ospreay: ‘List Of 20 Very Forgettable 5 Star Matches’), but the damage was done.

• NJPW
• Will Ospreay
• Kenny Omega
• AEW

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