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Incredibly self indulgent Kenny Omega character thread below
I like how Kenny Omega (the wrestling character) is a deeply insecure individual who has zero ability to manage his own issues and instead projects those feelings to hurt the people who love him
He implies in the last Dynamite he’s holding on to a lot of guilt and regret for leaving the fans and the company and the people who loved him in Japan. However, he’s not willing/capable of taking ownership of those feelings so he just points the finger. For now, at the Bucks.
I get the sense that he’s trying to force things to be “the way they were”. The too sweets, the posse, the run-ins, the cheating. He’s got to feel like the big bad leader of Bullet Club again. Cuz in his head, wasn’t that when he was at his strongest??
And he’s trying to force the Bucks back into that role. The sneering, cheating punks who will do anything for the Cleaner. But the fact is that the Bucks have grown. Kenny hasn’t. And Kenny doesn’t seem to know how to deal with that.
Kenny Omega’s insecurity is an impressive combination of god-complex and inferiority-complex all mashed into one incredible mess of a man. I think all of this connects to, begins, and ends with Ibushi, as usual.
Kenny’s self-conscious struggle to be seen as Ibushi’s equal (or superior) began nearly as soon as they met, and I think the way Kenny’s acting right now is still a by-product of that pursuit.
Bc the thing is, Kenny’s still never beat Ibushi in a singles match. And I think the only reason this hasn’t ate him alive yet is that, up until January 4th, 2021, Kenny Omega has held the IWGP Heavyweight belt and Ibushi had not. Now that Ibushi is an IWGP Heavy champ, well...
I think that little insecure void at Kenny Omega’s center is expanding at the thought that Ibushi has surpassed him yet again (IC AND Heavy champ at the same time? WORLD Heavy champ? Wild.)
And as things are, Kenny can’t exactly head over to New Japan to demand a match with Ibushi to settle things once and for all (again). So he settles for sending messages. Like watch me, I can collect belts too. Watch me, I can be a god of pro wrestling too.
One of the things that I like about Kenny the most is how effectively he can portray someone who is simultaneously delusional and understandable. Kenny’s doing all of this for the wrong reasons, but you can still feel his pain and understand WHY he’s feeling it.
I think this is a Kenny acting out of confusion and hurt. I think his guilt and regret has twisted itself into a deep resentment for all of his loved ones, the ones with him AND the ones he left behind.
He resents the Bucks for bringing him to AEW, away from Japan, and then “not choosing him back”. And I think he could resent Ibushi for not coming with him to AEW and then proceeding to succeed so strongly in NJPW (current title situation notwithstanding)
This Heel Kenny run feels like a bizarro reflection of his last. This time with a much more reluctant Elite and a much more manipulative Don Callis in Kenny’s ear, feeding his already self-sustaining paranoia. Wherever it goes, I know it’ll be messy and I can’t WAIT to see it.
