If we can start ranking wrestlers on the number of their high-rated matches, the name Kenny Omega would definitely be there in the top five. Such is the impact he has brought to the ring every time he laced up his boots, and he has attracted tons of fans toward him with his high-octane action.
Kenny Omega's career is quite unique as he has done everything he could possibly do on the independent circuit before making a name for himself in the big leagues. He has competed all over the globe and honed his skills to perfection. With that said, let's take a look at the decorated career of Kenny Omega through various photos taken over the years.
8 Training & Debut
Kenny Omega looked into a career in ice hockey before his friend started training with Top Rope Championship Wrestling in Winnipeg. He became intrigued with pro-wrestling and joined his friend in TRCW, and trained under the promoter, Bobby Jay.
Omega was only sixteen when he made his in-ring debut in June 2000, and he continued to wrestle for TRCW until December 2001, during which time he won the TRCW Tag Team Championship and the Junior Heavyweight Championship three time. He also made two final appearances for the promotion in October 2002 and January 2003.
7 Early WWE Stint
While Kenny Omega and The Elite might take their turns being massive WWE critics, we can track their alleged dislike for the promotion back to Omega's early stint with WWE in 2005.
Kenny Omega received a WWE tryout in October 2005 and got sent to Deep South Wrestling for the process. He received a developmental contract following the tryout and got assigned to DSW full-time.
Unfortunately, Omega didn't clear the DSW boundaries, and his stay with the developmental promotion also wasn't fruitful, and he ended up on the losing side in most of his matches. Omega asked for his release in August 2006, which the promotion didn't have any second thoughts in granting immediately.
6 Return To The Independent Circuit
Following the failed WWE stint, Kenny Omega tried to venture into MMA and competed in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments before returning to pro-wrestling. He returned to the independent circuit once again and went back to Premier Championship Wrestling, where he had been working since 2001 and held their world championship twice.
From there, Kenny Omega continued his journey on the indies and competed for various promotions, including DDT Pro-Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, Ring of Honor, and New Japan Pro Wrestling. His contract with DDT Pro-Wrestling was set to expire in October 2014, by what time he had already decided his next move in signing with NJPW.
5 Bullet Club
We can track Kenny Omega's first encounter with the infamous Bullet Club back to June 2013 when he competed against Finn Balor in the NJPW's Best of the Super Junior XX Semi-Final. The Bullet Club interfered during the match and aided their leader Finn Balor to defeat Omega and advance to the final.
When Omega signed with NJPW in 2014, he revealed himself as the newest member of the Bullet Club. Fast-forward to July 2015, Omega went on to dethrone AJ Styles as the leader of the faction. He went on to lead the group despite various trials and tribulations along the way until he left NJPW in January 2019.
4 Showdowns With Kazuchika Okada
One of Kenny Omega's greatest feuds in his entire career was against NJPW's top star Kazuchika Okada. Their high-octane showdowns have received immense positive reviews from fans all over the world.
The two wrestlers had competed against each other in multiple tag team matches before their first one-on-one match in January 2017. Kenny Omega tried his best to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship from Okada in their first two singles matches, but Omega lost the first match while the second ended in a 60-minute time limit draw.
Omega's first win over Okada came in the 2017 G1 Climax tournament, where he defeated Okada in Block B. The two wrestlers met once again at the NJPW Dominion 6.9 event in June 2018. Okada defended the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Omega in a no time limit, two-out-of-three falls match, in which Omega defeated his long-time rival and became the first Canadian wrestler to win the IWGP Heavyweight title. The match also received a seven-star rating from Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
3 Final NJPW Feuds & Departure
After winning his first IWGP Heavyweight Championship, Kenny Omega's first defense came against Cody Rhodes at the NJPW G1 Special in San Francisco in July 2018, following which the fans witnessed a brief Bullet Club breakup and a subsequent reunion.
He then retained the title against Tomohiro Ishii in September, followed by a three-way match against Cody Rhodes and Kota Ibushi in October. Omega dropped the championship after an impressive 209-day reign to Hiroshi Tanahashi at the NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 13 event in January 2019. Following the loss, Omega's contract with NJPW expired, and he left the promotion to join Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks in a highly ambitious project.
2 All Elite Wrestling
Kenny Omega, along with Cody Rhodes, The Young Bucks, and Tony Khan, introduced All Elite Wrestling as the new and upcoming promotion that promised to give fans the kind of hardcore and intense in-ring action they always wanted. Omega signed a four-year contract with AEW, and apart from being an in-ring performer, he also became an Executive Vice President alongside Rhodes and The Young Bucks.
Omega took on Chris Jericho at the promotion's inaugural event, All Out, but ended up on the losing side and also got attacked by Jon Moxley after the match. He then teamed up with Adam Page and won the AEW World Tag Team Championship from SoCal Uncensored.
1 Multiple World Championships & Hiatus
After losing the tag team titles, Kenny Omega returned to singles competition and went on to win a tournament to become the No.1 contender for the AEW World Championship. He defeated Jon Moxley at the AEW Winter is Coming event in December 2020 and turned heel in the process.
Along with the AEW World Championship, Omega also captured the Impact World Championship and was already holding the AAA Mega Championship. He proudly displayed all the titles simultaneously until injuries began to play spoilsport on his momentum.
He first lost the Impact World Championship to Christian Cage on the inaugural episode of AEW Rampage and then lost the AEW World Championship to Adam Page at the 2021 Full Gear PPV. He also relinquished the AAA Mega Championship as he had to take some time off due to injuries. He has left fans with speculations on his eventual return.