AEW: Latest Update on Kenny Omega's Injuries, Possible Return Date
AEW Dynamite opened this week with Kenny Omega informing the rest of The Elite and the fans at home that he would be stepping away from television for a while to recover from various injuries. It was reported shortly after Full Gear that "The Cleaner" was still dealing with shoulder injuries that had been around since AEW first launched, and on the latest Wrestling Observer Radio Dave Meltzer gave another update on the situation. He explained that Omega has been dealing with quite a number of injuries on top of his shoulder issues, including a knee injury and abdominal hernia, and that he's expected to undergo multiple surgeries to try and deal with multiple issues at once.
Meltzer couldn't confirm whether or not Omega will still defend his AAA Mega Championship against Hijo del Vikingo at Triplemania Regia II on Dec. 4. As for when he'll be back in AEW, Meltzer noted he's hoping for "February, maybe," but added that timetable is premature. Stay tuned for more details as they become available
Omega wrestled 32 matches this year, which included defending the AAA Mega Championship, holding the AEW World Championship for a record 346 days and winning the Impact World Championship in April before dropping it in August. He lost the AEW title to Hangman Page this past Saturday, wrapping up a storyline that could be traced as far back as 2016.
The multi-time world champion made it no secret that he was dealing with injuries, telling Scorpio Sky on the Wrestling With The Week podcast earlier this year, "It's a blessing but a curse. As champion, you get some high-quality matches, you become the focal point of the shows, but at the same time, there's a schedule that is required and a demand for your body and health and your psychological health as well. There's just a lot that goes into being a champion.t's cool to look at pictures and be like, 'wow, look at all these belts,' but then I think, 'Man, I have to defend these. I've got to make time to defend these. I have to be that guy for the company somehow. And you just count the days and weeks that you're available to do it. It's requiring a lot of multi-tasking. But I'm still hanging on. And I can do it right now, so I'm going to do it. It may be my last hurrah, but I'm going to do it."