Kenny Omega comments on Kota Ibushi as IWGP World Hvt. Champion, says company man Ibushi does not make him special

Speaking to Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated in an article about current New Japan IWGP Hvt. World Champion Kota Ibushi, former IWGP Hvt. Champion and current AEW Hvt. Champion Kenny Omega talked about the different expectations placed upon him as champion.

“For me, I learned there are three places of expectations as champion,” said Omega. “There is the expectation of what the fans want from you, there is the expectation of what you want for yourself, and then there is the expectation of what the company wants you to be. I always found that, when I was wrestling for myself, I was able to take things to a certain point. When I was wrestling for the company, I barely made any headway at all. I lost myself. I never found out who I was. It wasn’t until I tuned into what it was the fans were looking for—there is always something the fans are left wanting. If you can satisfy the hunger that hasn’t been satiated by the fans, and give them what they hunger for, or do it better than the person before you, that’s where you find your most success. That’s where you’ll find the passion, and then you can project that in your own performances.”

Barrasso then asked Omega if he had any words of advice for Ibushi. Barrasso noted that Omega chose his words carefully when answering the question. “I don’t mean this in an offensive way, but what I would say to Ibushi is, he’s done a great job of delivering everything that the company has asked him to be,” said Omega. “He became, on the exterior, everything that they’d asked him, everything they’d wanted him to be from the beginning, everything that Hiroshi Tanahashi wanted him to be. I think that, if he wants to ascend to another level, he has to leave that behind and become the person he was destined to become. Company man Ibushi is not what makes him special, and that’s not the reason he’s champion.”

The interview comes on the heels of Omega recently claiming on recently on Impact Wrestling that he is a better champion than Ibushi. Barrasso noted that Ibushi declined to answer any questions related to Omega through an interpreter during the interview.