Ahead of his meeting with Jon Moxley in an Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch at AEW Revolution, AEW World Champion Kenny Omega has opened up about being inspired by his rival.
Speaking to talkSPORT, Omega discussed the challenge of facing a man like Jon Moxley in such a violent match and how that also acts as an inspiration. When asked if he was motivated by trying to beat a violent man at his own game, Omega confirmed that not only was that the case, he was going to use that to bring the best out of both of them.
“That’s absolutely correct. Before we went into this thing with Jon Moxley, you want to bring out the best not only in your opponent, but yourself.
The name of the game for me when AEW started was I wanted to shoulder some new challenges. Whether that be my tasks inside the ring or outside of the ring, I wanted to take on a whole new bunch of projects and Jon Moxley is someone who challenges me in exactly that kind of way.
I never thought I’d end up doing what I’m doing right now [laughs]. I never thought I would have done what I did on the first Full Gear pay-per-view [Unsanctioned Lights Out match]. But, Moxley challenges me and sort of inspires me to bring that part out of me that I never knew that I had. For me, it’s exciting.”
Elaborating further Kenny Omega admitted that while he isn’t a violent man outside of the ring, wrestling allows him to tap into that part of his personality, and explore things he never normally would otherwise. He also described Deathmatch veteran Terry Funk tweeting his support for himself and Moxley as “fantastic.”
“I’m not very violent or physical, really. I’m a sportsmen, a competitor. But it allows me to explore other avenues in professional wrestling that I never would have otherwise, so it’s exciting for me,” Omega explained.
Diving deeper into the creative process behind this kind of brutal match up, Omega admitted that he wanted to push the envelope and bring out ” that real violent side of Jon Moxley.”
“As much as this is about bringing out another layer of Kenny Omega, I hope it brings out the best in Jon Moxley too. I want to see that real violent side of Jon Moxley.
I only ever knew of Dean Ambrose. So I’ve only seen what they showed me on their TV programming. I don’t know about CZW Jon Moxley. I never saw any of that stuff. And I got a little taste of it at Full Gear about how his mind works and about what he’s willing to put himself through, but I kind of want to push the envelope further. I want to see more.
I want to see that version and I want to see what put him on the map originally and I want to see if I can keep up with that.”
Meanwhile, Jon Moxley has been preparing for the bout by appearing at Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport 5 where he defeated Davey Boy Smith Jr, ahead of signing to face Barnett himself at Bloodsport 6 on 8th April.
The prospect of a Barbed Wire Deathmatch between two of AEW’s biggest stars has been met with a mixture of intrigue and excitement online. However, there has been some criticism of the bout with Jim Cornette calling the match “goofy and outlaw.”
You can find all of the information about AEW Revolution here.