Massive challenge issued to Kenny Omega outside AEW

Kenny Omega returned to the ring earlier this year. Amid his feud with the Don Callis Family, he has received a challenge from a non-AEW wrestler.

When Kenny Omega returned to NJPW Power Struggle last year, he was attacked backstage by Gabe Kidd. Hence, The Cleaner challenged Kidd to a match at Wrestle Dynasty 2025. This was Omega's first bout in over a year. At the end of a back-and-forth contest, the AEW star defeated his NJPW rival. However, it appears as if Kidd is not done with the 41-year-old.

During a recent interview with NJPW, Gabe Kidd said Omega proved why he was the best wrestler in the world in their match at Wrestle Dynasty. Despite the loss, he wanted another match against The Cleaner. The Bullet Club member claimed that The Best Bout Machine was nervous in their bout due to his time on the shelf.

"I'll give him credit. He isn't the phony I thought he was, or that I said he was before. He is the best of the best and that's who I deserve to be in the ring with. He got me, but I do want round two. When the time is right, I do. It'll be harder a second time. Tokyo Dome was his first match back, his first step back into the wrestling ring. A second time and he'll be more confident, he'll have been wrestling consistently. There's no doubt, I could feel and you can see watching the match back that he was nervous in there."

Gabe Kidd added that he had been working hard with his coaches and would be better during his next match with Omega.

"It's a credit to him [Omega] as a wrestler that he was able to beat me because I was 100%. It's given me things to work on, and that's what I'm doing with my coaches, so next time we face off, I'll be 100% better than the 100% I was then." [H/T: Fightful]

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Gabe Kidd commented on representing NJPW against Kenny Omega

Kenny Omega made a name for himself in NJPW before he launched AEW with The Young Bucks. During his time in Japan, Omega had some incredible matches against Kazuchika Okada, Tetsuya Naito, and many others.

After The Elite and several other top stars left NJPW to join AEW, the Japanese promotion has arguably been floundering to find similar star power. Hence, Gabe Kidd said during the same interview that he wanted to put New Japan Pro-Wrestling on the map during his bout against Kenny Omega.

Kidd claimed that NJPW was the best wrestling promotion in the world and he wanted to prove why that was the case.

"Hundred percent. In my head, this was NJPW vs AEW. That company has more money than us, it has stars there that used to be stars for us. So in my mind, I wanted to put New Japan back on the map. New Japan is the best wrestling company in the world, and it has been for a long time, so I wanted to represent, and I wanted to prove this company is the best." [H/T: Fightful]

It will be interesting to see whether fans will get round two of Kenny Omega vs. Gabe Kidd.