Kenny Omega Names AEW's MVP (And It's Not Himself)

Kenny Omega has a strong argument to be considered the MVP of All Elite Wrestling's early years. He's one of the found Executive Vice Presidents, he's held the AEW World, World Tag Team and World Trios Championships, has main evented 16 pay-per-views and is tied for third for most pay-per-view matches in company history at 18. But Omega admitted in a new interview with Sports Illustrated that he doesn't believe he deserves that title, adding that it belongs to Jon Moxley. Mox first arrived in AEW at Double or Nothing 2019 and has held the AEW World Championship on three separate occasions. Those reigns came during some of the company's toughest eras — the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the injury bug that spread throughout the Summer of 2022 and the fallout from last year's Brawl Out incident — all while being a stalwart locker room leader. 

"If I'm being honest, the MVP of AEW hasn't been me," Omega said. "It's Jon Moxley...For AEW, Jon's been the one. He's been at almost every show. He's bled at almost every show. There is no one higher on the blood-giving list. Maybe that's what makes this feud so interesting. It's someone with notoriety from Japan against someone who was a top player from WWE. And Jon hasn't stopped working. I was injured, but now that I'm healed up, it's beautiful that we can restart the song and dance between Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley."

The rivalry between the two kicked off as soon as Moxley arrived, closing out Double or Nothing with a brawl that saw Moxley nail Omega with a Paradigm Shift on a stack of giant poker chips on the entrance ramp. The pair have since fought in one-on-one matches three times, resulting in the ultraviolent Lights Out match at Full Gear 2019, the pivotal AEW World Championship bout at Winter is Coming 2020 (which Omega won and turned heel, kicking off his Belt Collector run in 2021) and their Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch at Revolution 2021.

"The dichotomy of our characters is interesting, as is the evolution of it," Omega said. "If you really dive deep and analyze what makes us who we are, I lost that Lights Out match. So what's the next progression from there? For me, it was to take shortcuts. After that, I decided to flip it on its head and deliver an even more violent match, the Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch. It's like I'm always chasing the dragon. It's not enough for people to say I'm the best professional wrestler. I want to beat Moxley at his strong suit. I want to thrive in a world of violence, even more so than Jon. That's what I'll convey in the cage this week. I want to be better than Jon."

They'll meet again inside of a Steel Cage on this week's AEW Dynamite as part of the ongoing feud between The Elite and The Blackpool Combat Club. While promoting the match, Omega hinted at his time as an in-ring competitor running out.

"Time is running thin on the Kenny Omega clock," Omega said. "I can guarantee anyone that sees me perform live that there is a reason for that performance, and I work to make every one special. I wanted this one to be unique and very fun for people who tune in and people who are there live. And I know how competitive Jon is. This will be a grueling, physically demanding and violent cage match."