Kenny Omega could have been a WWE Superstar had his short stint with the company worked out differently. In a recent interview, former developmental talent Tommy Farra discussed his one-time tag team partner's WWE departure.
Omega left WWE's Deep South Wrestling (DSW) territory in October 2006. The AEW Executive Vice President said in a 2017 interview on E&C's Pod of Awesomeness that he felt "mindf****d" by his WWE experience. He also criticized trainer Bill DeMott.
Farra, aka Tommy Suede, recalled on Developmentally Speaking how Omega had enough of WWE's developmental process:
"For a while I was teamed with Kenny Omega, and we had a lot of fun. Kenny and I had so much fun doing promos together. It's just there was no plan for us, and Kenny eventually got frustrated with things down there, while we were still teaming, and that's when he asked for his release." [18:03 – 18:27]
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After leaving WWE, Omega became known as one of the world's best wrestlers thanks to his work in NJPW and Ring of Honor. In 2019, he joined AEW as an executive and in-ring competitor.
Kenny Omega and Tommy Farra's contrasting experiences with Bill DeMott
In 2013, WWE opened the Performance Center facility in Orlando, Florida, to train up-and-coming talents. Before that, many wrestlers honed their craft at the Deep South Wrestling or Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) territories.
Bill DeMott's grueling training methods were scrutinized in 2015, leading to his exit from WWE. However, Tommy Farra believes his former coach had a difficult job:
"Bill gets a bad rap. Bill had a task, I don't envy him, because I've trained people since. OVW was more established. They had beginner classes, intermediate, advanced classes. He had one class, in which he had to train everybody. We did a lot of drills, which made sense, but for guys that had experience, it's like, all right, after a while you get kinda sick of the drills." [14:47 – 15:20]
Farra added that the training was "not Bill's fault" and credited the former WCW star for significantly improving the roster's cardio.
What do you think would have happened if Kenny Omega joined WWE's main roster in the 2000s?
Please credit Developmentally Speaking and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.