AEW’s Kenny Omega Reflects On Loss To NJPW Rival

Former AEW World Champion Kenny Omega has reflected on his Wrestle Kingdom 13 loss to his NJPW rival Hiroshi Tanahashi.

In October 2024, NJPW rivals Kenny Omega and Hiroshi Tanahashi reunited for the first time since 2019 when they faced each other at Wrestle Kingdom 13. The reunion was well documented and buzzworthy due to their history with one another.

Speaking to NJPW for a new interview, Kenny Omega discussed his kinship with Tanahashi. He said:

“I feel like there’s some sort of unspoken kinship there, a little bit. Here we are, two guys that were just trying to do the best that we could, and at first, I’m sure the reasons were very selfish.”

“For me, I just wanted to be the best I could be, I wanted to be the best in the world. I wanted to win championship belts. It was never about money.”

“I’m sure if you ask Tana, it would be the same answer. It was probably never about money. We got to a point where then it not only about championship belts, it became about representing our companies.”

“It became about what is our ideal wrestling style? What does wrestling mean to us? What kind of wrestling message do we want to convey to the world?”

“When you put it all out there, when you’re speaking from the heart, when you’re wrestling from the heart and you’re trying to explain, ‘This is me, this is my message,’ I lost to Tanahashi.”

“So I didn’t lose because I was the worse wrestler. I didn’t lose because I was weaker, because I was slower. I didn’t lose because I had a worse gameplan. I lost because my dreams weren’t big enough. I was still too selfish.”

Reflecting on the lesson he learned after his loss to Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom 13, Omega said:

“So now becoming an EVP myself, of my own company, I can look back fondly at that time and go, you know what? Had I not leaned that lesson back then, had I not learned how valuable it is to speak from the heart, to wrestle from the heart, to tell that message, not only to your opponent but to the world, you can’t do big things.”

“Look where we are now? Who would have thought. Two rivals in high-ranking positions of opposing companies coming together to have a clash at the Tokyo Dome.”

“Here we have people making their return to Japan after however many years, we have people making their debuts in Japan, people making their dreams come true, and really doing something that probably no one’s seen in a long time.”

“I couldn’t be happier to do it with New Japan. I couldn’t be happier to do it with CMLL, and I couldn’t be happier to do it especially with the Joshi from STARDOM as well.”

“So it really a fantasy situation for me, and I think the catalyst to it all happening, for me anyway, as losing that match.”

Kenny Omega has been announced to appear as a special guest at NJPW Power Struggle 2024 on November 4. Meanwhile, Hiroshi Tanahashi recently announced that he will retire with his final match taking at Wrestle Kingdom 20 on January 4, 2026.

Transcription via Fightful

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