Kenny Omega Fires Back at Critics Over His Recent Match With Will Ospreay at Forbidden Door 2023

By Connor Casey

Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay had another Match of the Year contender at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door 2023 last month, as Ospreay avenged his loss from Wrestle Kingdom 17 and won back the IWGP United States Championship from "The Cleaner." While neither man walked away from the match with any major injuries, the physical toll the match took was immediately on display as both men were involved in high-risk, hard-hitting sequences. The one move that particularly stood out was when Ospreay nailed Omega with a Tiger Driver '91, landing him right on the back of his head and neck. Omega fired back at the match's biggest critics in a new interview with Sports Illustrated. 

"There are a lot of people criticizing who do not have my best interests at heart," Omega said. "They just want to put a dark mark on that match, which is a performance I'm extremely proud of. And performances like that will be few and far between as I get older and older."

"There are people who want to complain and put themselves on a pedestal by saying what we did was dangerous," he later added. "Well, you think? So I've been asked, why did we do it? It made sense in the match and evoked emotion. And we both knew I would end up coming out of the move unscathed. Is there a risk? Sure. There's always a risk. Look at the way Mike Tyson boxed. His style was so dangerous, he stayed so close to his opponent. What was he doing boxing in-style? Shouldn't he have fought more stick-and-move and waited for the counterpunch? Wouldn't that have been better for his brain? Didn't he understand how dangerous it was? But that's what made him Mike Tyson."

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"Don't tell me not to wrestle the way I know how to wrestle," Omega continued. "Is there a risk? Was there a risk when Mike Tyson was fighting within inches of space between another championship-level boxer throwing power punches? Of course. But Tyson was confident in his abilities, and he knew he was the best. So don't tell Mike Tyson how to box, and don't tell Tyson Smith how to wrestle. You aren't even close to being qualified. Just shut the f— up."

Omega will return to action this Saturday for Lucha Libre AAA in the main event of the Triplemania XXXI: Tijuana event. He'll take on El Hijo del Vikingo in a match for the AAA Mega Championship, a title Omega had to relinquish back in 2021 due to injuries.

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AEW Battle of the Belts VII Card (July 15, 2023)

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  • AEW Women's World Championship: Toni Storm vs. Taya Valkyrie
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