Kenny Omega Says There Was A ‘Strange Atmosphere’ In AEW When He Returned In 2022, Comments On Brawl Out

Kenny Omega stepped away from AEW following AEW Full Gear 2021 when he lost the AEW World Title to Hangman Page. 

Omega needed time off due to a laundry list of injuries that included a shoulder injury, a hernia, vertigo and a leg/knee injury. 

He eventually returned to the promotion in September 2022 to compete in the AEW Trios Title tournament alongside The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson). Omega and the Bucks would go on to win the AEW Trios Championships at AEW All Out, but they almost immediately vacated the titles as they were suspended for their role in an altercation with CM Punk and Ace Steel following AEW All Out. 

Speaking to Renee Paquette on The Sessions, Omega reflected on his return and Brawl Out. 

“I was happy that we were moving forward in a direction that didn’t necessarily require me. I felt that now was a good time to get the stuff taken care of. Then I felt like, eight months had passed and it was time to come back and it was kind of like the GIF of the dude walking in with the pizza boxes and the whole room was on fire. I didn’t get it. What’s with this strange atmosphere? What’s with this strange aura? Why does something feel so ominous right now? I didn’t know and I couldn’t figure it out. Next thing you knew, there was more stuff happening. It’s so surreal because it’s almost like it never happened. It happened, of course it happened. I hadn’t even gotten familiar, or unfamiliar, with my surroundings backstage with the new AEW because there were new people in the locker room. A lot happened in eight months. To come back and see old faces and be like, ‘Hey,’ but then feel this eerie, to feel like I was in Eerie, Indiana for a second. Then, stranger things started happening and I was like, ‘Oh man, what do I do? This isn’t right. Someone needs to be the voice of reason. This is silly.’ Things fell off the rails and we were involved in a very silly situation that people are probably going to be talking about for months and possibly years to come, I don’t know,” he said, referring to the altercation with Punk. 

When asked if it bothers him that people speculate on the situation and have so many questions regarding the incident, Omega replied, “I’ve been involved in competitive sports, contact sports, at the highest level. Some people on our roster have, some have not. I feel like, if you have, you’ve probably been in a spat or two with a teammate and maybe, sometimes, it might come to blows. It happens. Coming from that sort of background, there was a point to it all when I felt like, ‘This just happens, we’re going to get over it, let’s just calm down and talk it over, we’re all doing okay here. We’re getting it out of our system, no problem, but let’s just maybe stop.’ We just don’t live in that world anymore, I suppose. Especially now, when you’re in a multi-billion dollar industry when there are sponsorships on the line, TV deals on the line, it’s not like high school football or a little tiff you might have with someone on your amateur wrestling team or someone held a submission too long in jiu-jitsu training, it’s not that. These things shouldn’t even be happening. It’s a shame that the general public and a lot of people aren’t ever going to know what went down and how it could have been prevented or how it could have ended differently. That’s just how things go in a big business operation. I don’t think anyone is happy that it happened or is proud that it happened or anything like that. Across the board, I think everyone thinks it was a terrible situation that was unnecessary.” 

Punk was also suspended for his role in the altercation and Steel, who worked as a producer, was released. Punk has not been back on AEW television since the incident. 

Asked if the atmosphere has cleared up, Omega said, “Yeah, I really do. There was a while where, and I can understand the confusion. ‘We know this thing happened, we heard this thing happened, it’s all over the dirt sheets, why don’t we know what happened?’ We’re gone, we’re kind of sworn to secrecy, we can’t say anything, legally. That was the poopy part where it was, ‘why doesn’t anyone tell us what’s happening?’ Then you’re forced to form your own opinion or come up with your own theory as to what exactly happened.”

Omega continued, commenting on theories fans have since the involved parties can’t talk about the situation. 

“Of course, especially when it’s like, ‘I’m more of a fan of one person than the other, so here’s the way I’m going to create this story so it puts this person in the best possible light.’ It might be that, chances are, it’s something else, or it might be a combination of various theories and we might never get to speak about it. What’s important is that no one else was seriously injured, emerging from that, I’m so thankful for that, and we’ve moved on with life. I’m completely fine, it doesn’t dictate what I do, what I say, I’m sure the Bucks are in the same boat. I can’t speak to the other parties, hopefully they are doing well, and I mean that,” he said.

It is unknown if Punk will return to AEW. He has been active on social media commenting on various posts regarding a potential return. 

Elsewhere during the interview, Omega commented on rumors that WWE is interested in signing him when his contract expires. You can find his full comments by clicking here. 

Omega is set to team with the Young Bucks to defend their AEW Trios Titles at AEW Revolution against House of Black (Malakai Black, Buddy Matthews, & Brody King). 

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