Earlier today it was announced that The Elite (Kenny Omega, Adam Page, Young Bucks) had signed new deals with AEW that will keep them with the company for the foreseeable future. Aside from their jobs as wrestlers Omega and the Bucks will remain as EVPs.
During an interview with Sports Illustrated Omega opened up about this decision to say, where he reflected on AEW’s inception back in 2019 and explained what their main goal was upon launch.
Our original goal was to create a wrestling alternative and give a platform to talented people that we’d all felt deserved a spotlight. I feel like we did our best in that time, and hopefully some people you’d never heard of pre-AEW are folks you enjoy watching today. Or if you knew them from their previous work elsewhere, have maybe found a new appreciation for them. That feeling, combined with the feeling of knowing they can provide for themselves and their family doing what they love, was always the biggest reward of being an EVP/founder.
Omega later states his love for the diversity of pro wrestling, adding that AEW offers him the best opportunity to explore those different types of matchups due to the company’s relationships with other promotions around the world.
Pro wrestling has a presence almost everywhere on the planet. In my pursuit to become as complete of a performer as possible, my goal was always to experience the styles of the world at their highest level. I believe that with AEW’s current working relationships, and possibly future, I can challenge all forms of pro wrestling and diversify my style so that I’m equipped for any scenario I may encounter in the ring.
Finally, Omega says that AEW gives him the freedom to pursue other passions in his life, a perk that he is unwilling to give up on.
Up to this point, I’ve made the choice to sacrifice everything in the name of pro wrestling. I can’t say that family or my kids influenced the decision to stay with AEW–I’m not married and without kids–but what I can say is that I’m incredibly proud of my match catalog and the wonderful people I’ve met and continue to meet. AEW not only allows me to continue doing what I do at a high level, but allows the freedom to pursue some other passions I have in life–which, after nearly 25 years in the ring, have become more and more important to me.
Omega and the Young Bucks will be in action on this evening’s 200th episode of AEW Dynamite.