10 Differences Between Kenny Omega In AEW & NJPW
The AEW success of Kenny Omega has many fans wondering if it’s the best of his career. Omega’s best chapters clearly took place in NJPW and now AEW as the two places he’s most been able to call a wrestling home. NJPW fans were heartbroken when Omega chose to leave in the early stages of AEW starting in a top spot.
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Omega has a few of the same constants like his One-Winged Angel finisher and friendship with the Young Bucks. However, the changes in his overall approach have created new things in his game. Not every performer will want to keep their presentations the same. Omega has made the following changes from his NJPW to AEW career with mixed results.
10 More Promos In AEW
The art of the promo is more important in AEW for Kenny Omega than it was for him in NJPW. Omega did learn how to speak Japanese to connect with the audience verbally in New Japan, but his promo time was scarce for most of his run.
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The time in AEW has featured Omega having to cut promos for his stories against the likes of Chris Jericho, Pac, Jon Moxley and now Adam Page. Omega has become quite comfortable talking trash most weeks on Dynamite since becoming the champ.
9 Changing Up Appearance
Kenny Omega’s desire to make changes to his identity since turning heel recently featured a bolder shift. The facial hair of Omega was different when having the beard and sideburn look similar to Triple H during his 2005-2006 run.
However, Omega revealed that Harley Race was his inspiration rather than Triple H. The look comes off better as a heel and fits his current character well. NJPW never witnessed Omega looking like this during his run there.
8 Cowardly Gimmick In AEW
The heels who act cowardly must deliver strong matches to make up for that and commit to it during segments to help the opponents benefit from it. Kenny Omega has perfected that for the first time in his career in AEW.
The use of The Elite members to help him cheat sees Omega talking tough when he knows he will have the upper hand. Omega has run away from fights to show his character is a coward at heart which was unlike the fighting spirit becoming his identity in NJPW.
7 Tag Team Run In AEW
New Japan booked a lot of tag matches featuring allies, but Kenny Omega was almost always a singles wrestler once getting over in the Bullet Club. That made it surprising when AEW decided to have him become AEW Tag Team Champions with Adam Page in the first year.
Omega was outside of the AEW World Championship picture involving Chris Jericho, Jon Moxley and Cody Rhodes. The timing led to the momentum building when Omega and Page teamed for them to win gold and remain a duo for most of 2020.
6 Leadership Role In Faction
One of the most unique aspects of the Bullet Club was that no one person was viewed as the leader during Kenny Omega’s time on top. Fans viewed Omega as the unofficial leader due to his position on the card, but the Young Bucks and Tama Tonga had moments of leadership as well. Members claimed no one wrestler was the leader of the others.
The current version of The Elite in AEW sees Omega as the clear leader these days. Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows joined specifically to do his bidding. Even the heel turn of the Young Bucks didn’t happen until they followed Omega’s vision for them.
5 Adding Don Callis As Manager
The use of Don Callis in AEW has seen him playing the biggest role in Kenny Omega’s initial character change. Callis is a real friend of Omega as the two connected during their time in New Japan, but Don was solely a commentator.
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AEW went all the way with his heel act by having Callis play a role in Omega cheating to win the AEW World Championship from Jon Moxley. Callis is now either on commentary or at ringside for all of Omega’s matches.
4 More Dominant Champion In AEW
The journey to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in New Japan was a bigger moment for Kenny Omega, but he was never booked as a dominant champ. Omega’s story was more about overcoming adversity than thriving on top in NJPW.
AEW has booked him completely different since the promotion started. The first few losses to Chris Jericho, Pac and Jon Moxley were shocking in 2019. However, it was done to set up his future with the bigger push. Omega has been bullet proof since winning the AEW World Championship winning all his matches.
3 Belt Collector Gimmick
Kenny Omega’s success since leaving New Japan for AEW has led to him thriving in other promotions as well. AAA’s working relationship with AEW led to Omega winning their world title after having a classic series of matches with Rey Fenix.
Impact Wrestling received a huge boost from Omega appearing on their PPVs. AEW allowed this to create his “belt collector gimmick” adding the Impact World Championship and former TNA World Championship to the other two titles.
2 Longer Matches In NJPW
The top stars of New Japan have high expectations and pressure to deliver long matches. Kenny Omega’s run as a main eventer would see him going at least 30 minutes and usually closer to an hour during his world title program.
Bouts against Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tetsuya Naito showed Omega pushing his body to the limits. AEW having a television time limit and PPV restraints sees him usually going under the 30-minute mark unless a special program calls for it.
1 Violent Matches In AEW
New Japan matches are hard-hitting, but there is a level of violence Kenny Omega has witnessed during his time in AEW at a different level. Weapons are rarely ever utilized in NJPW with the physicality coming from hard hits in the ring.
The program between Omega and Jon Moxley featured tables, chairs, barbed wire, glass, thumb tacks and plenty of other painful moments. Omega wanted to show that he could thrive in the hardcore wrestling scene and proved it outside of his previous NJPW strong style.
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