Kenny Omega shocked the pro wrestling world early Sunday morning by announcing he would be returning to New Japan Pro-Wrestling for Wrestle Kingdom 17 on Jan. 4 in Toyko. Omega interrupted Will Ospreay’s celebration after the leader of the United Empire successfully retain his IWGP United States Championship at the Historic X-Over event on Saturday night. He cut a promo about how Ospreay and every other non-Japanese star had failed to continue the legacy “The Cleaner” built in his years with the promotion and proclaimed he was coming back one last time to save it.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Ospreay responded in the ring by saying the way he sees it, Omega left and he stayed to help carry the company through the hardships of the pandemic. The two will now battle for the US Championship, a title Omega first won in July 2017 when it was first introduced.
Omega and Ospreay have been trading insults on social media, in promos and even in interviews with media for years. The two finally shared the ring in AEW back in August when The Elite and United Empire met in the semifinals of the AEW World Trios Championship tournament. Despite Omega still being fresh off his return from injuries, he and The Bucks managed to beat Ospreay and Aussie Open.
“A guy like Will, who is great at moves and has a list of 20 very forgettable five-star matches. [laughs] I’m going a little too hard on Will. Will is great. I don’t want to say anything bad about Will. Here’s the thing, if we’re being completely honest with each other, I do believe that with the current rating system, and how things are viewed, I believe that Will has earned every last one of those five-star performances that he has had,” Omega told Fightful earlier this year. “I’m digging myself into a hole here, Will is there and Will is great. I’m glad to see him in a marquee match against Orange Cassidy. I’m just saying that I think New Japan made the right choice by going with Jay White. He was the star of the two, is all I’m saying.”
On top of that, Omega and The Bucks also returned to action for AEW on Saturday night by challenging Death Triangle for the AEW World Trios Championships at Full Gear. The three came up short, but then AEW announced the six men would take part in a best of seven series, which will continue on this week’s Dynamite.
