New Japan Pro Wrestling star Kenny Omega recently made headlines along with IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada at Wrestle Kingdom 11 for delivering what could already be wrestling’s match of the year.
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Omega has made himself over the past few years as being one of the most entertaining stars of the sport, carrying over a lot from video games (his finishing move is called the One-Winged Angel, a reference to Final Fantasy VII villain Sephiroth) and becoming the leader of Bullet Club when AJ Styles left for WWE.
The former IWGP Intercontinental Champion also had some recent comments about the WWE that went viral. He told Uproxx in an interview about how he thought WWE was becoming more and more of a monopoly.
“It seems as though we’re headed towards a monopoly, if I were to speak honestly. WWE is hiring people just to hire them. That’s fine, and I’m happy for whoever’s happy to collect a paycheck from them. A lot of my good friends are now receiving work and receiving money. But sadly, a lot of those people are signing with WWE just to ride the pine. You can’t put all these guys on TV.”
Talking to Ring of Honor star Christopher Daniels this week, he explains to ComicBook a little bit about where Omega was coming from and if he thinks WWE is shaping up to be that way.
“Yeah, I see Kenny’s point was that they are signing so many guys and where is there an opportunity to see them on their programming? I feel like WWE is now trying to put more and more content on the WWE Network. A year ago you didn’t have the Cruiserweight Classic and NXT didn’t have as much content, so I see the point to fill content. But how many people is too many?”
Daniels continued with how some wrestling fans look at products outside of the mainstream and how the sport is being delivered through streaming services and them stacking up to WWE.
“So to the people that weren’t signed by WWE, can you make a viable program compared to WWE? I think you can. You look at New Japan now and their own version of the Network, New Japan World, and even with Ring of Honor, we have our own syndicated show and who knows what the future holds with programming for us. We could get another hour or to another cable network–the possibilities are all there. Ring of Honor has a very strong roster and as long as we can continue compelling wrestling television, I see us being an alternative to WWE programming.”
While it’s true that WWE is considered to be the “big leagues” to certain wrestling fans, there’s plenty of alternatives to that product. For example, Ring of Honor is available on over 400,000 Sinclair-affiliated homes, over Comet network, streamed via the FITE app and online. Plus, they tour regularly and have regular pay-per-views.
“I read that Kenny sort of compared it to McDonald’s where you can get it any street corner, but sometimes you want that variety,” Daniels explained. “I feel that’s the same way with pro wrestling. There’s a lot of great talent in WWE, but there’s also even more great talent outside of WWE. Look at the Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, and Colt Cabana as guys who have been successful outside of WWE and didn’t need the machine behind them to enjoy their success in professional wrestling.”
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