Does anyone here agree that Kenny Omega is in a desparate need of a character change. I’ve been really underwhelmed by what he has presented throughout the past year and a half. Im hoping that within the next few months, Omega will have a major breakdown and The Cleaners goes loose once again. Turning him heel after losing the tag titles and having a feud with Hangman Page would be the logical scenario I would do.
What are y’all thoughts?
I think it’s intentional. It seems he’ll be turning anyway. So the shakeup is coming. I’d say on the whole, the plan in AEW was to sort of keep him on standby before going to a long main event run in year two. I’m not huge on that. To be frank, I think WWE would have done a better job out of the gate, presenting him as a major star. (Nobody attack me plz, I just said out of the gate).
Being a heel is probably the move. He’s really quirky. In Japan, he could just wrestle long matches and his personality was more in tune with that audience. In North America, the little I’ve seen of Kenny as a personality, I haven’t gotten into it. The weekly environment is a unique challenge to what makes him special. Even the heel mannerisms seem cheesy and unrealistic. Feels like bad cosplay. But, he might be better served in the long run being an over the top heel versus cutting authentic babyface promos like Cody (who I think should never turn).
In the long run, I think Kenny will be fine an featured prominently in AEW’s second year. But I also think we underestimate how bad of a move it was to really present him in such a meh fashion early on
I think they kept that card in their back pocket, for when the needed a bump in the ratings. If things got bad, they could break out the cleaner and generate a tonne of buzz. But that didn’t happen, so they didn’t have to break him out.
Also, they have all been extremely aware of overbooking themselves. Almost to their own detriment. None of the Elite has been overly pushed,which was intentional.
This isn’t Kevin Nash booking himself over Goldberg, or Greg Gagne being the heavyweight champion in the AWA.
I dont think he needs a character change. Just more focus on the main event after this tag run. Though, I can still see him joining Dark Order. I said it months ago and I just feel like his “quirkiness” would fit in with that group.
The difference though, is nobody wanted to see Goldberg loose to Nash, and nobody wanted to see Gagne as champion. Almost everyone wants to see Omega in that spot.
I like AEW, I really do, but my biggest issue with them since the beginning, is they seem to be more interested in the way the position themselves against WWE, then they are at being AEW.
This is a perfect example of that. It feels they are more interested in proving to the world that they can put guys that WWE wasted in the mid-card into their biggest matches (ie. Moxley, Lee, Hagger etc.) at the expense of what is best for AEW. Kenny Omega has been wasted for a year and a half, and as a fringe AEW viewer, I can tell you that I would be much more willing to watch every week if Omega was the guy that the company was centered around opposed to Moxley. I like Moxley, but the main event scene since he won the title has been very tough to watch.
You are having a laugh. He has all the charisma of a dead slug. And pulling ridiculous faces whilst making strange gestures with his fingers is not charismatic. That’s exactly why he isn’t (and in my opinion) will never get over as either a top babyface or heel (and top is a pretty low bar these days). As you said, he didn’t need to talk in Japan where the emphasis is far more on in-ring performance and the people he was in the rung with carried him to those matches because they didn’t indulge the shit that will in the US.
As for Cody, I cannot believe you think he should never turn heel. Anyone who knows anything about wrestling can see that if, and that is a big if, done correctly then turning a beloved babyface heel or hated heel babyface is one of the biggest tools for drawing money (although that isn’t really a thing these days). Just look at Flair, Hogan, Macho Man, Bret, etc. and the reaction they got when they flipped.
As I wrote on another thread, they should be booking Cody to turn on Arn, Tully to pretend to make the save but turn on Arn too and then build a new Horsemen type group with Cody, Hangman and FTR and leave Omega to align with those other dweebs The Young Bucks and Matt Hardy. The makeup of those groups is far more in keeping with their personalities.
I’m looking at Kenny Omega as the guy in charge of the women’s division so I’m waiting.
Is it the same main event scene we’d be getting, if there was no pandemic though? I think it would have been MJF & Moxley at DoN, if there was no pandemic. I dont think Cage or Brodie, would have gotten title shots. Maybe on a big episode of Dynamite or something, but definitely not on one of their bigger shows.
Bully Ray & Tommy Dreamer both recently said on Busted Open, that Cody should never turn heel. They know a lot more about wrestling than you. What are your thoughts?
(I also am for Cody, FTR & Hangman going with Tully.)
Jim Cornette is this you?
Okay calm down.
Yup. Totally agree. I haven’t really watched any wrestling lately but I wouldn’t waste MJF vs Mox on a non audience match. You really want MJF to win that and get the massive crowd heat on him. That match needs a red crowd to really get MJF into the next level. Smart to not do it until you can get a proper audience
I feel tons of plans have changed with the absence of an audience.
Doing a Sting early 90’s or Hogan 80’s style run with Moxley makes sense with the absence of live fans. You just present him a fighting Champion beating a rogues gallery of heels. It’s very basic, but translates well.
I feel Moxley, Omega and Page would all be feeling like the top guys in front of crowds.
The February PPV was the last big measure of that, all of them certainly felt they were main event players getting major reactions.
Same goes for MJF as a top heel, as well as most of the Inner Circle.
I disagree with them.
Nope. It is possible for two people to independently have the same opinion(s). I know that is a foreign concept in the tribal lands inhabited by the AEW and WWE/NXT tribes.
I’m perfectly calm.
Ya very possible, we probably won’t find out for a long time though.
If if they are doing this to save big matches for down the road, I get it, but it doesn’t mean that it’s not boring to watch now.
I think if they pushed Omega to the moon at first they would have suffered some backlash. What they’ve done is a slow build and he’s been telling great stories in the tag division.
The Bucks match at Revolution was incredible and his Ironman match with Pac also very good.
I see a heel turn and the chance to really shine in a singles role later this year
He didn’t exactly set the world alight when he was WWE champion. You could say it was bad booking but I never looked at him as someone who had much charisma to begin with and his promo style doesn’t do much to hype up matches for me. He doesn’t really have “it” in my opinion. Has he had any good title reigns? Being the third wheel in The Shield is still the best version of him.
I think he’s at a level where he can be in a main event against the right person, I felt he was a credible challenger to Jericho. But I see him more as a challenger, then I do as a champion who is in the main event every month.
100% agree with the shield assessment. That was undoubtedly the best use of him in his career.