I’ve been on one side of the Where Does Kenny Omega End Up? debate for about the past year: anywhere but WWE.
But now that it’s official that Omega is leaving New Japan, or at least it seems official, since he’s saying he’s leaving – this is wrestling; anything and everything is a work, so be warned – I’m coming around to the idea that if Omega ends up in WWE, I might be OK with that.
Now, qualifier: if Omega ends up a jobber in WWE, no. He can’t be what Shinsuke Nakamura has been the past couple of years, or what Finn Balor has been the past couple of years; much less what the Good Brothers have been relegated to.
Dave Meltzer is reporting today that rumors that Omega has been offered creative control as part of a sweeping contract offer from WWE are not true, because WWE isn’t giving anybody creative control anymore, and I can get that.
Here’s where I come to the idea that Kenny Omega to WWE might be OK: it comes down to the dollars.
If WWE is paying Omega like an established main-eventer – according to reports, Seth Rollins is in the $3 million a year range, Randy Orton is at $4.5 million, Roman Reigns is at $5 million, all the way up to Brock Lesnar at $10 million – so, somewhere in there, then they’re not going to waste their money.
OK, it’s arguable that WWE has been getting its money’s worth out of Rollins of late, but we’re being led to believe that he’s about to main-event WrestleMania alongside Brock Lesnar.
If Omega comes in at Rollins-level money or above, he’s going to be treated at least as well as Rollins, or like Orton or Reigns or Lesnar, who basically have carte blanche when it comes to primo sports on the card.
And I can’t imagine that Omega would go to WWE for anything less than fuck you money, which he was already making in New Japan, where he was being paid a reported $2.2 million a year.
Thinking that through, Omega isn’t leaving New Japan for a comparable amount of money from WWE, to work many multiples of dates a year, plus giving WWE what you’d have to assume is a much bigger percentage of merchandise sales than he’s currently giving to NJPW.
You could say that he’d leave for comparable salary and merch share because he wants to see if he can have a good run in WWE, but I don’t buy that.
He’s already looked at as the best wrestler in the world even without a WWE run. The only thing a WWE run can do for him now is knock him down a peg, if things don’t go the way we’d all expect.
Omega to WWE is a huge risk for Omega, and a huge get for WWE. Ergo, back up the armored truck.
And if that happens, WWE isn’t going to misuse the generational talent that is Kenny Omega.
Which is why I’d be OK if Omega were to end up in WWE, which is in desperate need of star power, though I’m saying that not having watched any WWE programming for the past six weeks, because I keep having better things to do.
Column by Chris Graham
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