Kenny Omega On The Difficulties Of Predicting Pro Wrestling’s Future
Kenny Omega discussed the future of pro wrestling in a recent interview with Wrestling Observer Radio. While Omega's been influential in helping shape the current landscape, he doesn't know exactly what the future holds.
"No one knows, you'll have to have some level of clairvoyance to be able to predict where things are headed, and I think that's why people are more so tentative to commit full-fledged into this, that, or the other," Omega said. "Because we don't know, we, you know, as just a human race, as people, we sort of take everything for granted. You know, things are going to be this way for quite some time and it is what it is.
"Being considered some form of sport, whether it's a performance show or not, professional wrestling is in sort of a lucky spot where we can sort of fall in the bracket of other live sports, where we can be a featured attraction that people will tune in live for, to watch."
For Kenny Omega, it's difficult to predict where the future of the industry lies with the constantly changing factors. Despite the juggernauts that AEW and WWE are, anything could happen to alter the trajectory of the industry. Kenny Omega insinuates the success of the industry depends on luck and a lot of educated guessing.
"How do you supplement big, all these big deals that, you know, both sides are doing? Both us, AEW on this side of things and WWE on that side of things, what is it, our big moves?" Omega asked. "And how do we sort of safeguard those, and stay afloat, and maintain sort of a position of prominence? A lot of times you just sort of go pin the tail on the donkey. You, like, close your eyes and make an educated guess as to what's best. But we could wake up tomorrow and someone puts a ban on all of television."
An essential key to WWE's longevity and success is their outside interests. Wrestling isn't the only water they dip their toes into. The world of movies, books, philanthropy, and more help WWE remain relevant in the mainstream. According to Omega, this could also be key to not only AEW's continued success but the industry as a whole.
"So I think, you know, both of us, AEW and WWE, I think we're trying to sort of dip our toes in multiple ventures to make sure that they're ways to always be active and available for fans to consume our product. So I think, in that sense, you know, for the people who have to make those hard decisions, they're unsung heroes because essentially they're kind of keeping the wrestling business alive. But for us as performers, all we can do is count our blessings that there is a demand for these live events."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Wrestling Observer Radio and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription