Kenny Omega has provided an unfortunate update on his status for AEWxNJPW Forbidden Door, confirming he’s ruled out as he recovers from his various injuries.
When AEWxNJPW Forbidden Door was first announced, Kenny Omega’s name immediately entered the conversation. Omega, now a stalwart in All Elite Wrestling, had previously fulfilled the role in New Japan Pro-Wrestling but sadly, injury is ruling him out of the event.
‘The Cleaner’ has been inactive since dropping the AEW World Championship to ‘Hangman’ Adam Page at Full Gear last November. Suffering from a slew of injuries, ranging from vertigo to “blown-out” knees, taking time off was necessary for Omega’s wellbeing.
An update on his recovery emerged during Kenny Omega’s recent chat with Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp, as he expressed his disappointment in not being able to wrestle at the historic pay-per-view:
“Oh, you know, if I’m going to be honest, my timetable before all of this started, I wanted to be back for this show. Being back for the show was incredibly important to me, and I really, really, really want to mix it up with somebody from New Japan, and it sucks that I couldn’t do it. And it’s to the point where I want to be on this show, even if it’s just to do commentary, or, or I just want involvement. And, but it’s, I’m not there yet.
And so I don’t want to give, I don’t want to take a spot from anybody. I don’t want to put a spotlight on myself when it’s not going to lead to anything. So I am definitely very cool to sit in a chair, in the sidelines for everyone to go out there and kill it and have a great show. And yeah, in terms of timeline, like I put myself back on the road to help out with some of the Owen Hart Cup matches, and I felt that it was too soon.
Kenny Omega continued, explaining how difficult it was for him to miss three to four days of rehab at a time:
It was, it was too, it was too difficult for me to miss three or four days of rehab, and to have to put myself into a position where I was flying again, and being very hands-on with talent. And you know, when I’m, when I’m trying to agent something, or I’m trying to show something when I’m moving around from point A to point B backstage, I’m moving quicker than I thought that I would and I’m doing more than I thought that I would. I’m not eating properly and I’m not resting properly.
And it, I felt that it really started to set me back. And I’m not saying that I would have been ready for Forbidden Door had I not done it. But when I started to recognise that it was a detriment to my recovery, I kept myself home and I’m focusing more on what I can do remotely and I’m, I’m kind of doing everything that I can for the game now to make sure that we can make release.”
Who, exactly, AEW would pick for Kenny Omega to face is unknown, though a handful of his famed rivals during his time in New Japan will be wrestling on the show, such as Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi. They’ll challenge for the IWGP World Heavyweight and interim AEW World Championships, respectively.
Prior to his litany of injuries catching up with him, Kenny Omega was enjoying a belt collector phase, at one point holding the AEW and IMPACT World Championships, as well as the AAA Mega Championship. He dropped the IMPACT title to Christian Cage on AEW Rampage’s debut episode, while vacating the AAA title.
There’s currently no timetable for his return to in-ring competition.