Kenny Omega And Chris Jericho Recall Their Winnipeg Wrestling Origins Ahead Of AEW Dynamite

AEW returns to Canada tonight for "AEW Dynamite," and there's a buzz of excitement in the air for the show. It'll serve as a homecoming of sorts for Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega, both of whom count Winnipeg as their hometown. As a result, each will play a big part in tonight's show, leading their respective teams into a Triple Threat Match to challenge for the AEW World Trios Championship. The Jericho Appreciation Society — made up of Jericho, Daniel Garcia, and Sammy Guevara for this bout — will meet The Elite and the reigning champions The House of Black with the titles on the line. 

But it's been a long road for Jericho and Omega to get to this moment, and Winnipeg certainly has been a major component of their individual journeys. "I was elated, unbelievably excited to look in my piggy bank after a month's worth of [wrestling], which at that time was two shows a week," Omega told the Winnipeg Free Press, "and a lot of those were ladder matches, hardcore matches, and all sorts of things, and see that I had twenty dollars ... It didn't even work out to five dollars a match," Omega explained about his time on the Manitoba indie scene, where he'd often skip shifts working at the local supermarket to make his bookings.

Jericho, meanwhile, recalls being less than enthused when he saw the first venue he would work in Winnipeg for Tony Condello's WFWA promotion. "I was like 'You've got to be kidding me.'" he said. "I was so embarrassed. Like I go all the way to Calgary to find my fame and fortune to come back and work in the exact same bar where we used to go for 35 cent draught night three months earlier ...I even jumped off the top rope and hit my head on the roof because it was so low, and I put a little hole in it."

Tonight's bout is Jericho's first in his hometown in over 14 years, going back to a WWE house show main event against John Cena in January 2009. Omega has been back much more recently, last working for local indie PCW in March 2019.