Kenny Omega Wants Rematch With NJPW's Jay White
White recently stepped through the ‘forbidden door’ into AEW
Feb 21, 2022
A lot has changed in AEW since Kenny Omega left to heal from multiple injuries after Full Gear 2021, such as Bullet Club leader Jay White stepping through the ‘forbidden door’ from NJPW to AEW.
Omega and ‘Switchblade’ have history - as referenced on AEW TV - and during an interview on Wrestling Observer Radio, Omega has admitted he wants to face White again:
“I’ve always had a real good relationship with Jay White over the years,” started Omega. “Known him since he was the guy doing my laundry in New Japan and always supported his venture and his journey in professional wrestling and extremely proud for him to take sort of the opportunity that was before him and make it his own. I really feel like he was sort of unfairly compared to me and/or others when he was given this incredible responsibility of being a top guy when maybe it was really soon, too soon. He was able to transform his look, his character, his wrestling style to really be something unique and something that fit him. So I would love to have that rematch with Jay, with the current version of the new Jay and hopefully be an instrument for him to really show how far he’s come, which, I think an American audience really hasn’t seen that yet and it’s tough to really see that.
“I mean I think the best version of Jay White that we got was probably Tokyo Dome against [Kota] Ibushi where it sort of embodied that New Japan, big time, epic main event style but it had a lot of the sort of influences from North American babyface-heel wrestling culture and he was able to sort of blend those in seamlessly without looking out of place in a strong style main event matchup. So in that sense, when you really look, take a step back and look at it, this is a guy that hasn’t had to rely on raw athletics, high-flying manoeuvres, things that’ll blow your mind from a spectacle standpoint. It’s just someone who is pacing things in a right way and being there for his opponent to create this epic feeling to a matchup and I think in AEW, with Tony [Khan] being as generous as he is with being able to showcase talent, I think that, even if it’s not me, I hope that Jay gets a chance to show something to the American fan base because he’s really developed into one of the great talents in professional wrestling.”
Omega and White have clashed six times, but only twice in singles competition, with both men sitting at one win apiece, White defeating omega for the IWGP US Heavyweight Championship during their last singles clash in January 2018.
H/T: POST Wrestling