Two of AEW‘s greatest storytellers are currently out of the picture due to an unfortunate case of the injury bug that has plagued the company for quite some time. Kenny Omega suffered a horrible diverticulitis injury in December that kept him hospitalized for quite some time. He eventually underwent surgery which he has been recovering from ever since. As for Kota Ibushi who signed a contract with AEW last year, he’s been battling his own health struggles as well. He recently returned to DDT but it has left many wondering about his status in AEW now that he’s back in the ring.
Ibushi took to his social media to quiet the concerns of fans that believed he wouldn’t be coming back now that Omega is out of the picture. According to Ibushi, that just isn’t the case, clarifying that his home is AEW and teasing what his future will look like. “No, my home is AEW. We’ll see a full comeback with Kenny,” the Golden Star wrote.
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After over two years away from the ring many believed Ibushi may have retired for good. He reappeared at the beginning of 2023 to compete in GCW during The Collective weekend in Los Angeles and four months later made his AEW debut for Blood & Guts, teaming with The Elite. He competed at two pay-per-view events following, AEW All In last August and WrestleDream in October. His final AEW match to date took place on AEW Dynamite last November in a Street Fight against The Don Callis Family.ย
Omega had a bit of a different story, as when he was unknowingly injured he was paired with Chris Jericho and they were slated to get a tag team championship match. On the outs with the Young Bucks, although Omega hasn’t wrestled a match he has been featured on television a few times just to keep up storyline appearances. The Bucks made it clear they’d kicked “The Best Bout Machine” out of The Elite, but he invoked his EVP status to craft a team that could potentially take them down.ย
That didn’t work, however, and the decorated tag team are still running rampant around AEW with Kazuchika Okada and Jack Perry. There is currently no concrete timetable for Omega or Ibushi’s return, but in March AEW CEO Tony Khan explained to ComicBook he is “hopeful” and “optimistic” about his future in AEW.ย
“I don’t want to put pressure on it,” Khan said. “He was really in a bad way. I don’t want to put a timetable or try to rush him back, but I’m optimistic we’ll see Kenny Omega again. Certainly it’s something for all the fans to look forward to. I think everybody’s just going to go crazy when Kenny does come back, which I think we’re all very optimistic about.”
Stay tuned to ComicBook for news and updates on AEW.
