Kenny Omega has revealed his reason as to why he’s not keen on working with Rossy Ogawa.
Ogawa co-founded the popular Joshi wrestling promotion Ring World STARDOM and is a key figure in the genre’s rise. After 14 years in charge, he was relieved of his duties as Executive Producer of the promotion by parent company Bushiroad on February 4th due to alleged talent poaching.
Following the news, AEW President Tony Khan took to social media to celebrate Ogawa’s departure from the promotion with one post captioned “Bye Rossy!” The meaning behind the posts stems from an uneasy relationship between the two promotions and Ogawa’s reluctance to work with Khan.
Since Ogawa’s departure several STARDOM talent such as AZM and Mina Shirakawa has appeared on Dynamite.
Kenny Omega also revealed his reasons for not wanting to work with Rossy Ogawa
Speaking on his Twitch stream, Omega spoke about Ogawa and why he has some reservations about him.
“From someone who lived it, breathed, who has very close friends in the industry. I don’t necessarily mean the wrestling industry, I mean the industry. The government issued press. The information they know. I’m just going to leave it at that.
I would say don’t be so quick to listen to praise for that individual because someday, I’m not sure when it will be.
Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but someday, people will know the truth. What they do with that truth, I don’t know. Will they share it? Maybe. A lot of the higher ups in Japan, they know exactly what,” he said.
Following his eyebrow raising comments, The Best Bout Machine clarified his point by stating:
“My comments on Rossy are whatever. There is nothing to say. I just think, eventually….I don’t care about Rossy being an E-Drone.
That’s no big deal. He’s done….that’s not even the tip…just you friggin wait. If you are still interested in wrestling and you’re listening to the stories and reading stuff. When it finally comes out.
I will say one thing, there are a lot of people who refuse to work for him for the very same reason. Some of those people are in WWE. Some are in AEW. They have a very good reason.
It’s not just, ‘I decided to wake up and not like this guy.’ If you want to know along what lines they tread amongst, the dude just flat out said, ‘we’re looking for girls ages 13 to 21 that don’t have a boyfriend and aren’t married.’ We already know he puts underage girls in very revealing swimsuit calendars and books. I wish that’s all he did.
Let’s put it that way. I don’t know. I don’t want to say anything. I’m not going on record to say anything. I don’t want lawyers barking at my door. That’s why I don’t want to say anything. I don’t have any sort of video evidence, I just have the good word of people who are very close. I’m outside of it.
If those people feel like commenting or saying something, whatever. For now, I’ll say that people going to Marigold, good luck. I hope you have a great time. I hope it works out for you. For me, I would be very hesitant. I would be very hesitant. That’s all.”
Omega concluded by saying he sided with the WWE Grand Slam Champion after she stated that STARDOM was created to “defeat” her.
“My only comment, I’m with Asuka. That’s it. We are bros. Always have been. She has her reasons and they are probably the same ones as mine.” H/T Fightful
On April 15, 2024, Ogawa held a press conference to announce the establishment of his new promotion, Dream Star Fighting Marigold.