AEW's Kenny Omega still awaiting hernia surgery, not returning in February

[Big Red Machine]

https://www.f4wonline.com/news/aew/aew- ... n-february


The WON Wrestler of the Year is still a few months away from returning.

Josh Nason


Former AEW World Champion Kenny Omega said that while he thought he might return to action in February after taking time off to heal multiple injuries, that doesn't appear to be in the cards.

Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio for nearly two hours following his award for 2021 WON Wrestler of the Year, Omega gave some updates including that he still has yet to get surgery for his umbilical hernia.

Last November following his Full Gear title loss to Hangman Page, Omega started his leave from wrestling to address his hernia, knees, shoulder and nose, saying in storyline he was taking time off to take care of some things.

Omega said that getting appointments and follow-ups based on those appointments in the era of COVID-19 has caused some snags in his timeline.

When he gets the hernia surgery, which will be the last thing he needs to address, he estimated it would be six-to-eight weeks before he could take impact to that area in a wrestling match. At that point, he feels like he could be ready to return.

He didn't say when he expects that to be done. Doctors have told him he could work around it, but he wouldn't want to return and then have the hernia tear, resulting in him being out even longer.

The hernia has been one of those issues that has caused Omega a lot of pain. He described working an Impact taping and having to do a run-in during a Moose and Sami Callihan segment that had to be scrapped because he was moving so slow to the ring due to the intense pain of just walking.

Omega said his recovery work is focusing on strengthening muscles around his injured areas as over the years, he leaned too heavily into other areas as he was overcompensating. He said it feels good to learn new movements from the ground up.

He is feeling better all the time and that when he returns, he will be "doing what I was doing 10 years ago, hopefully." He would like to be able to focus on his matches and performance and not having to worry about blocking out the pain which he said he hasn't done in a long time.

[cero2k]

this interview had some good stuff, the thing about Cody paints the better reason why he left. Cody had an image about AEW, everyone else had a different one. Omega implies that Cody was all about the revolution and us vs them, while Omega and the Bucks are just like "dude, i just wanna wrestle and have kick ass matches". Worth the listen until Garrett starts going on one of his tangents.

[Thelone]

Pretty much everybody saw that Cody and the Elite were going to clash at some point because of almost opposite philosophies/inspirations, but I don't believe for a second that the Elite and Khan are above the whole "us vs. them" thing. Frankly, Kenny's comments have a weird "You're breaking up with me? Well you're a fat ugly bitch anyway" vibe to them because even after signing the two biggest names they could legitimately get, they're still nowhere near RAW numbers, so now it's "Whatever, I didn't wanna play your stupid game anyway" while the boss is already flailing around and hyping more "channelgame-changing announcements that will shock the world forever" five seconds after another bad rating.

[Big Red Machine]

Pretty much everybody saw that Cody and the Elite were going to clash at some point because of almost opposite philosophies/inspirations, but I don't believe for a second that the Elite and Khan are above the whole "us vs. them" thing. F

This. Cody was certainly a driver of it, but let's not pretend that the Bucks didn't also do spots where everyone knew WWE had sent them offers and they pulled a sledgehammer out in the middle of a weapons match, just to symbolically throw it away ad get a different weapon instead.

[cero2k]

Pretty much everybody saw that Cody and the Elite were going to clash at some point because of almost opposite philosophies/inspirations, but I don't believe for a second that the Elite and Khan are above the whole "us vs. them" thing. F

This. Cody was certainly a driver of it, but let's not pretend that the Bucks didn't also do spots where everyone knew WWE had sent them offers and they pulled a sledgehammer out in the middle of a weapons match, just to symbolically throw it away ad get a different weapon instead.

Just because you throw shots mid-war doesn't mean you didn't want to be in the war to begin with. The war was going to happen regardless and of course AEW was gonna throw shots back, otherwise it be 3 years of WWE throwing shade and AEW being a bullied kid. EVERYONE knew there was going to be a war here, doesn't mean the people involved want it

[Big Red Machine]

Pretty much everybody saw that Cody and the Elite were going to clash at some point because of almost opposite philosophies/inspirations, but I don't believe for a second that the Elite and Khan are above the whole "us vs. them" thing. F

This. Cody was certainly a driver of it, but let's not pretend that the Bucks didn't also do spots where everyone knew WWE had sent them offers and they pulled a sledgehammer out in the middle of a weapons match, just to symbolically throw it away ad get a different weapon instead.

Just because you throw shots mid-war doesn't mean you didn't want to be in the war to begin with. The war was going to happen regardless and of course AEW was gonna throw shots back, otherwise it be 3 years of WWE throwing shade and AEW being a bullied kid. EVERYONE knew there was going to be a war here, doesn't mean the people involved want it

This was not "mid-war." This was back in ROH.

[Thelone]

Just because you throw shots mid-war doesn't mean you didn't want to be in the war to begin with. The war was going to happen regardless and of course AEW was gonna throw shots back, otherwise it be 3 years of WWE throwing shade and AEW being a bullied kid. EVERYONE knew there was going to be a war here, doesn't mean the people involved want it

AEW's whole identity is "We're not WWE". Remember the puff pieces right after the creation of the Dub? They just took a bunch of WWE's flaws and said "we'll do the opposite of that".

• WWE is goofy sports entertainment? We're going to be serious sports-based pro wrestling
• Wins and losses don't matter? We're going to keep records and have rankings
• Plans change every week two seconds before RAW/Smackdown? We'll do long-term storytelling
• WWE has thirty writers and everyone sounds the same? We won't have any and "creative freedom"
• Too many rematches? We'll barely have any no matter what
• Too many DQ's and non-finishes? Same thing
• WWE wrestlers should be employees and not independant contractors? Well our wrestlers will be emplo...yed as real independant contractors who can still take indy bookings on the side (phew, that was a close one)

That's not even taking into account later developments like the Forbidden Door™, "we'll be selective and not pick up every random WWE reject" comments (it was either Jericho or Cody) and that can of worms called representation.

Do the people behind the characters actually care about that "war"? Maybe they do, maybe they don't, but let's not pretend that they haven't been cultivating that tribalism since day 1.

[Big Red Machine]

Just because you throw shots mid-war doesn't mean you didn't want to be in the war to begin with. The war was going to happen regardless and of course AEW was gonna throw shots back, otherwise it be 3 years of WWE throwing shade and AEW being a bullied kid. EVERYONE knew there was going to be a war here, doesn't mean the people involved want it

AEW's whole identity is "We're not WWE". Remember the puff pieces right after the creation of the Dub? They just took a bunch of WWE's flaws and said "we'll do the opposite of that".

• WWE is goofy sports entertainment? We're going to be serious sports-based pro wrestling
• Wins and losses don't matter? We're going to keep records and have rankings
• Plans change every week two seconds before RAW/Smackdown? We'll do long-term storytelling
• WWE has thirty writers and everyone sounds the same? We won't have any and "creative freedom"
• Too many rematches? We'll barely have any no matter what
• Too many DQ's and non-finishes? Same thing
• WWE wrestlers should be employees and not independant contractors? Well our wrestlers will be emplo...yed as real independant contractors who can still take indy bookings on the side (phew, that was a close one)

That's not even taking into account later developments like the Forbidden Door™, "we'll be selective and not pick up every random WWE reject" comments (it was either Jericho or Cody) and that can of worms called representation.

Do the people behind the characters actually care about that "war"? Maybe they do, maybe they don't, but let's not pretend that they haven't been cultivating that tribalism since day 1.

I don't see most of these as "shots" at anyone (either WWE or, in the "rejects" case, TNA). They are a statement to tell the public that our new company will be avoiding the things that WWE does that you don't like. A "shot," to me, is the unnecessary inclusion of something that has no other value than to flick at the nose of the other side (Cody and the throne, for example. And yes, Cero, WWE's "piss-ant" comment was also a shot. No one is disputing that).

[Thelone]

I don't see most of these as "shots" at anyone (either WWE or, in the "rejects" case, TNA). They are a statement to tell the public that our new company will be avoiding the things that WWE does that you don't like.

I know those aren't shots, but acting like "us vs. them" was just a Cody thing is disingenuous at best and complete horseshit at worst when the company itself is based around "let's raise the banner against the EVIL EMPIRE!!!".

I mean yes, Cody did the whole throne thing at the first DoN, but I feel like he was the tamest overall (clearly because he's a ROTTEN BASTARD WHO'S GOING BACK TO SATAN HIMSELF!!!). The Bucks, Omega and Khan keep mentioning/spoofing WWE all the time.

A "shot," to me, is the unnecessary inclusion of something that has no other value than to flick at the nose of the other side (Cody and the throne, for example. And yes, Cero, WWE's "piss-ant" comment was also a shot. No one is disputing that).

When did anyone in WWE mention the Dub apart from that (on TV I mean)? I think Zayn made a remark in a promo once about "going to TNT" or something and... that's all I can remember really.

[Big Red Machine]

When did anyone in WWE mention the Dub apart from that (on TV I mean)? I think Zayn made a remark in a promo once about "going to TNT" or something and... that's all I can remember really.

At the DX Hall of Fame induction or something like that, Hunter made a comment to BIlly Gunn about him going to a "little piss-and company" or something like that which got all of the AEW people all offended.

[Thelone]

I know that one, but I meant when did they mention or alluded to AEW on WWE TV besides the HoF.

[Big Red Machine]

I know that one, but I meant when did they mention or alluded to AEW on WWE TV besides the HoF.

To my knowledge, it was just that and Sami Zayn's "you can ask me about AEW if you want" comment in the "electric chair" segment.