AEW's Kenny Omega Misses Just Being A Wrestler, Addresses Mental Health Sacrifice

Kenny Omega has juggled many hats in AEW due to his roles as an in-ring talent and executive vice president. However, the former World Champion longs for the days when all he had to focus on was performing in the middle of the ring, as being a backstage employee can create a laundry list of worries, as he explained in an interview for NJPW's YouTube channel.

"I'm at the arena days before trying to figure out, 'How are we gonna make this work? How do we make this guy's entrance work? How do we make sure all of the entrance videos are formatted? How do we make sure that the extras and the talents are fed? How do we make sure that they're healthy? How do we make sure that we keep them healthy? What do we do if something goes wrong?'

Omega noted that his roles have required him to find out how to balance them, which might have been impossible if he wasn't passionate about his job and the wrestling business. At the same time, the AEW star believes that his dedication to his job has come at the expense of his well-being at times.

"I just wanted to help unite people all over the world, lovers of professional wrestling. People that have never watched wrestling and maybe could find a love for it and you know, did I sacrifice a bit of my physical and mental health for it? Sure."

Omega received surgery for diverticulitis in August, which saw doctors remove 25 centimetres of his colon. His last appearance for AEW happened in May and involved The Elite attacking Omega, culminating with him being wheeled to the back on a gurney before his old allies delivered a further beating, shoving him onto the concrete floor. That said, creative plans have reportedly been discussed for Omega's eventual AEW return, assuming everything goes to plan.