Kenny Omega Makes Featuring Women On AEW His First Concern

The ‘Belt Collector’ Kenny Omega told fans this week that he wants to ensure featuring women on AEW happens. In fact, he claims this is now his primary concern as the brand moves forward.

Less Attention On Female Wrestlers

The women’s division has always been a bit of an afterthought for AEW. And while the brand has not been around as long as the WWE, fans have criticized this fact dramatically in recent history.

Kenny Omega, one of AEW’s biggest talents, has now revealed he wants to make the women’s division a top priority on the brand. Of course, the recent women’s eliminator tournament has given AEW the means to do so.

In addition to a stable of American talent, AEW also joins forces with New Japan. As a result, much Joshi talent is featured in the form of Aja Kong and Emi Sakura. 

But the recent women’s world championship eliminator tournament is certainly not enough. And this is something even Kenny Omega has realized.

During an interview with TalkSport, Omega gave his honest opinion on the state of the women’s division. Naturally, he also touched upon the areas for improvement.

Love For Joshi Wrestling

During his interview, Kenny Omega had a lot of love for Joshi wrestling. In fact, it is clear he sees a new future for the women’s division in this select area of wrestling.

“I tried to watch just as much joshi wrestling as I could when I was staying over in Japan for the decade that I was there in the country. I’ve said in multiple interviews, I really do credit joshis for bringing my love back to professional wrestling when I was in a drought looking for things that make me feel something.”

“To be able to not only have some of the athletes involved in the tournament that were in that time period [he was in Japan] having killer matches like Emi Sakura, Aja Kong and Ryo Mizunami, we’ve got some new up and comers too like Yuka Sakazaki and Maki Itoh who clearly have a real bright future in the world of professional wrestling.

Praise For Shida

Omega also revealed that Hikaru Shida put together the Japanese side of the ongoing tournament. Needless to say, she did an amazing job with the selection she made. 

Kenny Omega also had a lot of kind words for Hikaru Shida and her contribution to this tournament. 

“She really went the extra mile and put it all together herself in Japan. These things don’t happen out of thin air. She really wanted to feature the women wrestlers more, the girls stuck in Japan and feature some of the women that she has worked with when she was doing freelance work.”

With the excitement around the tournament building, it could be the beginning of a better day for the women’s division. Of course, AEW will have to continue to invest in its women’s division to build something substantial.

A blend of American and Joshi wrestling could be the unique formula AEW goes with. But for now, I’m just enjoying every moment of it.