All Elite Wrestling (AEW) star Kenny Omega was recently interviewed on the Jay and Dan show for TSN to promote his upcoming documentary and the former IWGP Heavyweight champion clarified why going to the WWE was never a good option.
For those of you who don’t know, before Omega was tearing it up on the indie scene, the Canadian-born wrestler was down in Deep South Wrestling - a former developmental system for WWE - from 2005 to 2006. Clearly, Omega didn’t stay long and while the AEW star makes note that he did get something out of the developmental system, he knew it just wasn’t the right fit for him (transcript from
Wrestlezone.com):
“I actually – well I had a small little stint in WWE and their farming system. It was called Deep South Wrestling. Right now, current day fans will probably relate that as NXT. And, it just wasn’t for me. I learned a lot, there was a lot of things that helped me take the next step after I left WWE. But I had always felt that whenever I had full creative control over my own person and my own ideas that I could really be the true me and the real me and show my full potential.”
Omega reveals that he strongly considered going to WWE earlier this year; however, he came to decision that AEW was the best place for his talents:
“I was actually heavily considering going there earlier in the year. But AEW, of course, this new promotion that we’ve got going, that just seemed right for me. And I always get really excited at the idea of having full creative control and just doing new things, man. You know what I mean?”
“There’s sometimes a job where you have to really conform to a certain system, or you have to perform to a certain standard, or in a certain way, or people want to manage you and then micro-manage you. And this is a situation where, “Okay, you’re gonna be part of this multi-million dollar, billion dollar company, and we’re giving you the ball. So just give us Kenny Omega.” And to me, that’s exciting, as a performer, so I thought that was probably what was best for me as a performer.”