Kenny Omega lost his AEW World Championship to Hangman Page in the main event of Saturday’s Full Gear pay-per-view, ending his record-setting reign with All Elite Wrestling’s top prize at 346 days. And while Omega put on numerous Match of the Year contenders throughout his reign, his health wasn’t always on his side. He had openly stated in late 2020 that he had been dealing with a torn labrum, and on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio Dave Meltzer discussed just how badly damaged his shoulder is.
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“I don’t know if he doesn’t have any strength (in his shoulders), but he can’t lift heavy weights with them,” Meltzer said. “The last time we were talking about it, he said he was able to lift the bar… he’s told me ‘I can work a match without my shoulders.’”
Omega has wrestled 32 matches this year, which also includes successfully defending the AAA Mega Championship and winning the Impact World Championship in April. He only has one match advertised for the rest of the year as of right now — a AAA Mega Championship match with Hijo del Vikingo at Triplemania Regia II on Dec. 4.
As for the AEW title, Page already has his first opponent lined up in Bryan Danielson, winner of this year’s AEW World Championship Eliminator Tournament. Both men talked about that matchup during the post-show media scrum.
“I intend to be AEW Champion,” Danielson began. “That’s why I’m here. I didn’t come here, like I said before, I’m not here to help the young guys. I’m not here to do anything else but prove I’m the best. So that’s what I plan on doing.”
“You could see in his performances and his attitude, the way he carried himself, he took that next step. You could see he was going to be a star,” Danielson said regarding Hangman’s rise to stardom in AEW. “Being a champion and carrying a company, that’s a completely different ball game. We’ll see how he does with that. I don’t think he’s going to be champion for very long, to be honest.”
“I know I said Kenny was the best in the world, but if you had to challenge me for someone who could tie him, it would be Bryan Danielson,” Page said. “I’m not very surprised he’s the No. 1 contender. That’s a lot to think about and I just won this damn thing.”
