Following the breaking news that The Elite (Kenny Omega, Matt & Nick Jackson and ‘Hangman’ Adam Page) have all re-signed with AEW on multi-year contracts, Kenny Omega’s exact reasoning for the decision has been revealed.
All four men spoke with Sports Illustrated‘s Justin Barrasso at length regarding their decision to stick with AEW rather than explore their options elsewhere, particularly WWE, who have been known to have interest in them if they decided to not re-sign with Tony Khan’s promotion.
Former AEW World Champion Kenny Omega firstly gave his statement on the decision to re-sign, citing his pride in his role as an Executive Vice President, what the company has become, and the talent it has been able to showcase since its inception.
Omega said:
“Our original goal was to create a wrestling alternative and give a platform to talented people that we’d all felt deserved a spotlight.
“I feel like we did our best in that time, and hopefully some people you’d never heard of pre-AEW are folks you enjoy watching today. Or if you knew them from their previous work elsewhere, have maybe found a new appreciation for them.
“That feeling, combined with the feeling of knowing they can provide for themselves and their family doing what they love, was always the biggest reward of being an EVP/founder.”
On the decision between AEW and WWE, former AEW World Champion Omega said that he weighed up his options but the freedom presented by AEW to not only continue his pro wrestling career but other outside passions was the deciding factor.
Omega said:
“I was careful to weigh out all options and was open minded to all possibilities. I’m here to help whomever I can while I’m still around.
“Up to this point, I’ve made the choice to sacrifice everything in the name of pro wrestling.
“I can’t say that family or my kids influenced the decision to stay with AEW–I’m not married and without kids–but what I can say is that I’m incredibly proud of my match catalog and the wonderful people I’ve met and continue to meet.
“AEW not only allows me to continue doing what I do at a high level, but allows the freedom to pursue some other passions I have in life–which, after nearly 25 years in the ring, have become more and more important to me.”
While Omega will forego the experience of working in WWE, his belief is that with AEW’s working relationships with the likes of New Japan Pro Wrestling, he will be able to still fulfil his ambition to experience numerous different forms of pro wrestling.
“Pro wrestling has a presence almost everywhere on the planet.
“In my pursuit to become as complete of a performer as possible, my goal was always to experience the styles of the world at their highest level.
“I believe that with AEW’s current working relationships, and possibly future, I can challenge all forms of pro wrestling and diversify my style so that I’m equipped for any scenario I may encounter in the ring.”
While The Elite have been at the core of the company since its inception, with Omega and The Bucks still carrying EVP roles, it wasn’t entirely out of the question they could leave AEW and doubts regarding their future had been prevalent for much of the past year in particular.
Whether it was Cody Rhodes making the jump from AEW EVP in 2022 or the CM Punk post-All Out backstage bust-up, there were plenty of reasons to question whether the ‘E’ in ‘AEW’ were going to stay put.
Now, however, we have our answer, and coupling with the impending record-breaking All In pay-per-view from London, England’s Wembley Stadium, there are a lot of reasons to be excited if you’re an AEW fan.
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