AEW made one big mistake with Kenny Omega's huge return on Dynamite, according to wrestling veteran
Kenny Omega has made his big comeback from a near-career-ending injury and has now made his Dynamite return. The AEW EVP kicked off his big comeback campaign on last week's Dynamite to set up his All Elite in-ring return, but the segment seemingly felt flat to many. Now two wrestling legends are weighing in with their expertise.
The Best Bout Machine kicked off the new year with a 32-minute win over Gabe Kidd at Wrestle Dynasty, co-promoted in Tokyo, Japan by NJPW, AEW, ROH, CMLL, and Stardom. Omega had been on the shelf for 13 months, but his return performance was heavily praised. The 41-year-old returned to Dynamite last week but was attacked by The Don Callis Family's Lance Archer, Brian Cage, and Kyle Fletcher. Will Ospreay made the save, then faced off with Omega to wrap.
AEW reportedly has major plans for Omega after last week, despite varying reviews on what went down. Konnan and Disco Inferno shared their mixed bag of feedback on Omega's return segment on the latest Keepin' It 100 podcast. The erstwhile Max Moon gave a nod to Kenny for dressing better than usual, adding that he looked good and came off sympathetic. Disco pointed to how the crowd in a smaller city like Clarksville did not help the mood at all.
"Doing this [Kenny Omega's return] in Clarksville, Tennessee, I didn't think really did it justice, because I would've preferred him come back with a bigger crowd, where he could've got a bigger reaction, in a better spot, something like that with a big pop because the crowd was not very good here, and it didn't really... he didn't really get a big pop coming out because it wasn't a big crowd," Disco Inferno said. [From 21:22 to 21:45]
Konnan agreed with Disco's opinion, adding that Kenny Omega's reaction would have been much louder if Dynamite was held in a city like Chicago. F&M Bank Arena in Clarksville is less than one hour from Nashville but over three hours from Memphis.
Kenny Omega returning to the AEW ring at Dynamite: Maximum Carnage
AEW will hold its inaugural Maximum Carnage Dynamite episode on Wednesday at the Brady Music Center in Cincinnati. Below is the updated lineup:
- Kenny Omega vs. Brian Cage for the first time
- Women's Casino Gauntlet: Winner will challenge Women's World Champion Mariah May at Grand Slam: Australia
- Christian Cage vs. Hook
- World Champion Jon Moxley defends in his hometown against Powerhouse Hobbs
The inaugural Maximum Carnage edition of Collision will be taped at the same venue on Thursday, to air on Saturday. Adam Page will face Christopher Daniels in a Texas Death Match, while Cope, FTR, The Outrunners, and Powerhouse Hobbs will team up for 12-man action against Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta, Claudio Castagnoli, Chris Jericho, Big Bill, and Bryan Keith.