Bruce Prichard Says He Had No Idea Who Kenny Omega Was Prior To Starrcast 2018

Since his run as the leader of the Bullet Club began in 2014, Kenny Omega has widely been regarded as one of the best wrestlers on the planet. Fast forward to 2021 and Omega is the AEW Champion and having outstanding matches with Bryan Danielson and Jon Moxley outside of WWE.

In 2005, Tyson Smith aka Kenny Omega worked for Deep South Wrestling which at the time was a developmental territory for WWE talent. Omega requested his release the following year after not being called up and he hasn't been associated with any branch of WWE in any way since. On the latest episode of the Something to Wrestle Podcast, Bruce Prichard, who at the time was with the company in a backstage role and scouting up-and-coming talent, spoke about the first time he ever heard of the name Kenny Omega.

"That day that I was at Starrcast [in 2019] and I said who was that," Prichard said. "I had no idea who he was."

Before signing with AEW in 2019, Omega and The Young Bucks met with WWE but didn't come to a deal, leading to the creation of AEW. Prichard spoke about Deep South Wrestling and what its connection to WWE was at that time.

"It was [on our radar], that was one of our territories, we had training facilities and everything that we had there," Prichard said. "Unfortunately I didn't get down there with the kind of frequency that we would've liked to of."

DSW was responsible for getting many talents seen by WWE including Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods and Team Stampede aka Harry Smith and TJ Wilson. Another name WWE was able to snag from Deep South was "Antonio Banks" who made his in-ring debut for WWE in 2006 as Montel Vontavious Porter. Prichard spoke about the company signing MVP at the time and when he first knew he had star potential.

"I was a fan of MVP the first time that I saw him in Deep South," Prichard mentioned. "From the very first promo he cut in developmental that I saw, he was a good worker. He was just one of those guys that had a spark about him and I loved his story."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Something to Wrestle With with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.