Kenny Omega Talks NJPW America, Bringing Out An Old Side Of Chris Jericho

IWGP United States Champion Kenny Omega recently spoke with Rolling Stone Magazine ahead of Wrestle Kingdom 12. You can see highlights below, and the full article at this link.

Bringing out a side in Jericho we've not seen in years:

"When we kickstarted the angle, I don't think either of us really knew what it would turn out to be. So I don't think us being unchained has led to this new wild-man Chris Jericho. With the combination of all these reactions from all types of fans, it became what it has, and now it is definitely something you couldn't see on WWE programming, but I don't think it was originally designed to be that. It felt at first, it was just gonna be a dream match for wrestling fans that were in the know, and now it's become this cool little topic amongst not only fans that have known the career of Chris Jericho but have followed mine. A lot of our new New Japan fans have just started watching from 2012 onward, so they don't even know who Chris Jericho is, but they do understand he's a huge megastar, and they can only go with what they see every time he makes an appearance or what I tell them. There is that side where I'm the more known act and have to introduce Chris Jericho to them. All different fans are being absorbed in this angle. The way to keep them all interested is the way we've gone about it so far."

NJPW's future in America:

"It's hard to picture what the situation is gonna look like. [Omega Vs. Jericho] is a real self-contained story that can maybe only happen once, but I'm excited to see where it leads because it's showing more of my range and a little bit of self-discovery on my part. I'm able to explore now this side of pro wrestling that is generally regarded here as taboo, but it's the wrestling I grew up watching. It goes back to the territorial stuff with Ric Flair, the way he'd promote his matches. You can't do it anymore. There's always an A, B and C point you have to hit, and things are overly scripted and micro-managed, and now we're gauging by how everything feels. Everything that this match evolves into has been an organic evolution, and that's why we haven't lost people yet."

You can check out the entire interview at this link.