For many AEW fans, Kenny Omega will always be known as "The Best Bout Machine," but the style he worked while in New Japan Pro Wrestling, as well as the first five years of AEW's existence has changed since his return to wrestling in January 2025. His battle with diverticulitis has forced him to wrestle a much more grounded style, something that he tried to incorporate into his AEW International Championship match with Konosuke Takeshita at AEW Revolution 2025. During a recent interview on "Wrestling Observer Radio," Omega explained that, because of the variety of matches on the card, he thought his match would be lost in the shuffle if he tried to stick to old habits, and changed accordingly to make the match as critically acclaimed as it was.
"Where I wrestled Takeshita in a singles match, and I had known that there was all sorts of different kind of matches on that day. We had hardcore matches, I believe [Will] Ospreay had that crazy cage match, so I knew that we were ticking a lot of boxes for different flavors of professional wrestling. So I thought 'Hey if my goal is to try to do these incredible high spots or death-defying stunts they plan to do, I'm going to get lost in the shuffle. So what is it that I can do to provide that might make my match stand out and not disservice Takeshita as a champion?' I've got to rely on telling the real-life story, just show...don't be afraid to show how I feel, or even amplify the movements and the emotion on my face to show pain..."
The plan ended up working in Omega's favor, as he dethroned Takeshita to become the AEW International Champion, and in turn, the first Grand Slam Champion in All Elite Wrestling's six year history.
Please credit "Wrestling Observer Radio" when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
