Kenny Omega Comments On Daniel Bryan & CM Punk Reportedly Joining AEW

Last week’s revelations that CM Punk and Bryan Danielson have reportedly signed with AEW sent shockwaves through the wrestling world, and it seems the news has reached some of AEW’s stars.

Whilst on Wrestling Observer Radio with Dave Meltzer, AEW World Champion and company EVP Kenny Omega talked about Danielson and Punk, saying the following:

“Danielson, I still call him Bryan Danielson, Daniel Bryan, I always knew he was incredibly intelligent, he’s ridiculously smart, especially when it comes to professional wrestling. For him to kind of create a movement, an actual, legitimate movement in the ‘Yes Movement’, for him to come up with that, he created it. There’s no, absolutely no way, and you could find documented evidence saying that ‘oh we always planned to have you have your WrestleMania moment and be the champion.’ I wouldn’t believe it. Even if I saw it in front of my face, I don’t think that was ever the plan. But he made it the plan, because he’s that smart.

“He was able to kind of turn everything around and emerge as a megastar, because he’s smart enough in a wrestling sense and a business sense. Just like in ROH, how he was able to have those fans in the palm of his hands, he’s able to have the entire WWE Universe in the palm of his hands with one word. Really the only other person I can think of that did that was Austin with the ‘What?’. There’s really nobody else I can think of who had that much power with one word. And wrestling ability? Of course, second to none. One of the most crisp, one of the most technically sound athletes to ever step foot in the ring, especially in the current age.”

Omega continued, turning his attention to CM Punk:

“CM Punk, a guy who probably has a different line of thinking than your current day performer, your average performer,” Omega said. “And he has this incredible reputation, and he has fans to this day who would follow him to the ends of the earth. A very dedicated fanbase. And that fanbase believes he’s the best in the world and will be the best until the end of time. If you’re able to have people like that who follow your career so passionately, you probably have something very special about you. It just goes to show you that the way he presented himself, the way he spoke about himself, the way he spoke to his opponents, how he performed in the ring, entrance music, his image. He was always very meticulous and he was very intelligent about how he went about it.”

Omega toed the line for much of his interview, signalling the duo out for praise without confirming or denying that either/both were joining AEW. Omega almost slipped up though:

“(These were) Two extremely intelligent people who found a way to sort, I don’t want to say cheat the system, but it was a system that was not created for them there,” Omega said. “And they were able to break every ceiling that was placed in front of them and emerge as an actual legend that will never be forgotten. So it’s cool for me to think that I’ll be able to get in the ring with these two. Possibly. But I think because they were so prominent in the WWE, and a lot of that is featured with segments, angles, character work. For me, as exciting as the wrestling part is, the ability to tell a story is more exciting for me.”