Kenny Omega Reveals Why He's 'Ashamed' Of NJPW

Kenny Omega is set to return to New Japan Pro-Wrestling at Wrestle Kingdom 17, where he will challenge Will Ospreay for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship. It's Omega's first appearance for the company since he left in 2019 to co-found AEW, and he thinks that the Japanese promotion has suffered during his absence.

While speaking to NJPW1972 ahead of the upcoming event, Omega compared NJPW to a child or a pet. While he still has an affinity for the promotion that helped him become a household name, he said that he's "ashamed" of it in the same way that a parent may feel disappointed by their worst child.

"For me, New Japan kinda became that child that I was ashamed of. I didn't want to talk about New Japan to other people," Omega said. "I wanted to go back to those days where New Japan was in those infantile stages of creeping over to the West. Under my help of course! With me as the captain, it was sure to succeed."

Omega went on to blame Ospreay for NJPW's supposed decline, claiming that he's "disgusted" by how the IWGP United States Champion has "led the ship." On top of that, he claimed that NJPW only backed Ospreay as they had no one else to turn to in his absence, but that will all change now that "The Bout Machine" is back. Of course, it remains to be seen if the AEW star will stick around for the long haul.