Before Kenny Omega established himself as one of the best wrestlers on the planet in the likes of DDT-Pro Wrestling, NJPW and beyond, he was under a developmental contract with WWE.
After starting his wrestling career in 2001, Omega was invited to a WWE try-out in 2005. This led to him signing a developmental contract with the company and heading to developmental territory Deep South Wrestling. However, a little under a year later he requested his release and hasn’t returned to WWE since, despite the company making attempts to re-sign him.
Kenny Omega Comments On Brief WWE Spell
Speaking during a recent Q&A with Monthly Puroresu, Omega recalled actually wanting to join Pro Wrestling NOAH’s developmental system before being selected by WWE.
“I never really did think that I had what it took. But the reason I went to the Harley Race camp in Elgin, Missouri was because it was for an opportunity to be implemented into the dojo system of Pro Wrestling NOAH. So I was willing to kind of forget everything I’d learned up to that point and start as a young boy in their dojo system. That was always the plan. In the end, I was selected by Johnny Ace to go to WWE instead.
And I thought, well, this is a different kind of opportunity, and maybe this is kind of where my destiny is guiding me towards, so I’m not going to ignore it. And it was a great opportunity, even though it’s different from where I thought I would end up being.”
Omega explained that ultimately WWE wasn’t for him and at the time he wondered whether he would continue wrestling at all.
“I did go into the WWE developmental system, Deep South Wrestling at the time, and it wasn’t for me. At that point, I had thought maybe wrestling isn’t for me because I was thinking at the highest level, when it becomes more of a business rather than a passion. Maybe I’m not the businessman that I thought that I was, maybe I was never meant to be at the highest level. Things are meant to be micromanaged. Maybe it isn’t what made me fall in love with wrestling to begin with.”
Since leaving Deep South, Kenny Omega has established himself as one of the premiere wrestlers on the planet. After enjoying tremendous success in Japan, Omega helped found All Elite Wrestling in 2019. After spending late 2021 and much of 2022 recovering from numerous injuries, Omega returned to action in August before being suspended for his role in the brawl at All Out.
Kenny Omega is currently teaming with the Young Bucks to take on Death Triangle in a ‘Best of Seven’ series for the AEW World Trios Titles. The ‘Best Bout Machine’ is set to return to NJPW at Wrestle Kingdom 17 to face Will Ospreay.