New Japan Pro Wrestling has announced that former AEW World Champion Kenny Omega is set for an appearance at their upcoming Power Struggle event in November. Omega, who has been out of action since December 2023 battling a severe case of Diverticulitis, has not appeared in Japan since New Year’s Dash 2023 — last January. “The Best Bout Machine” has been spotted training as of late adding hope that his in-ring return could be just around the corner.
Omega’s last appearance on AEW television resulted in him getting a severe beat down from his former Elite stablemates and best friends, the Young Bucks. Despite him being injured, he invoked his EVP powers to set up a match at AEW Double or Nothing this past May.
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Seeds have been planted for his return, and he himself has recently called out Matthew and Nicholas Jackson alongside NJPW President Hiroshi Tanahashi, one of Omega’s greatest rivals. The decorated veteran tag team explained they’ll be at Wrestle Dynasty — a huge collaboration pay-per-view between AEW, NJPW, CMLL, ROH and STARDOM.
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It seems fairly likely that when he does back his return to wrestling in the states, one last match with Kazuchika Okada will be imminent. While they’ve had barnburners in Japan, that match has yet to take place in the U.S. and in AEW for that matter, and it would definitely be a huge attraction.
Omega reflected on his wrestling return in an interview with New Japan Pro Wrestling, explaining that he believes he can still be a top performer when the day comes. “Knowing just the weight that was on my shoulders of being the position that I was in for that company [AEW], here we had someone [Okada] that took everything out of me,” Omega said. “Everything; it took every ounce of my being to finally defeat for a major belt in this company and he’s coming here 100%, with only the wrestling to have to worry about. I looked at that man as a monster, and I can’t lie, I was scared. I can’t face this guy as current Kenny Omega.
So maybe by the Young Bucks putting me out and allowing me to step back and refocus on bringing myself back as the wrestler that I know that I can be, taking the mental burden away of being an EVP, just for a little bit, to focus on what is it that I have to do to get back to that level, I feel like the ghost of my past and the skeletons in my closet have all followed me back to this stage, and although getting sick in the way that I did set me back almost a year now, it’s almost a blessing in disguise because it really allows you to assess things in a different way, and it allows you to prioritize the things you should be prioritizing, and I feel that when I do come back, I can come back with a clear head space and possibly be a top-flight performer again.”
