WWE Agressively Pursuing A Big New Japan Star?

[BestSportsEntertainer]

http://www.ringsidenews.com/2018/08/02/wwe-get-aggressive-trying-bring-kenny-omega-year/

According to rumors, WWE is looking to sign Kenny Omega after his contract with New Japan expires at the end of this year. They would be willing to offer Omega a lot more money than New Japan could.

It's no surprise that WWE wants to sign Omega. He's maybe the biggest wrestler outside of WWE. He seems happy in the company, but money talks. It basically comes down to how much WWE is willing to offer and how much would be enough.

Some other factors are the insane WWE schedule and how much they've mishandled some wrestlers. I wouldn't be shocked if WWE wants to sign Omega just to keep him from New Japan. Or he could become a huge star like AJ Styles. Or somewhere in between. Either way, there's a risk involved. It would certainly be a nice payday. However if he's not being used to his full potential, then is that enough?

How much is Omega worth, and should WWE sign him? What happens to New Japan if they lose him?

[Y 2 Jake]

If they want him they've got to give him a certain push to justify it. If it doesn't work out he can leave when his contract expires.

May as well make the jump when he's at his most desirable.

[Yaz]

Omega is one of those guys whose stock is higher because he is outside the WWE. He is a very talented wrestler, but he has fans that only cheer him because he wrestles outside the WWE. GIven that he knows that and that he is basically a giant weeb who enjoys Japan and their culture, I find it unlikely he signs.

[Jack-Hammer]

Omega himself has kinda sorta hinted that he might be interested, at least that's how it seems in various interviews. I read something he said a month or so back in which he said WWE has more time constraints than he's used to in his matches, but he understands that because the format is different due to WWE having a much more conventional, episodic television show than New Japan does. New Japan on AXS TV is, for all intents and purposes, a glorified clip show in which matches are cherry picked to air, one or two of which take up the entire hour long show. Omega said he's interested in the challenge of working within constraints and said that he thinks he might be able to work even better with that sort of pressure on him. So, unlike 1.5 to 2 years ago, Omega isn't flat out saying no when it comes to signing with WWE.

However, Kenny Omega is flat out in love with any and all things regarding Japan and its culture. It's never really been a big goal of Omega's to make it to the WWE and he's obviously a huge fish in New Japan. I have no idea how much Omega makes in New Japan but there's no question WWE can easily match or exceed it; money is always an issue, of course, as everyone needs it but Omega will be stifled to a significant degree in WWE because Vince McMahon rules his company with an iron fist. If you get over in WWE, then you generally have to do so within the constraints and boundaries set upon you by Vince; it doesn't necessarily matter if you're over with the fans, it's Vince who has to like you because we've all seen instances of wrestlers who're really over with the fans overlooked because Vince himself just didn't see the appeal. Remember the Stone Cold podcast where he called out Cesaro by name and basically buried him? Rusev Day is being broken up despite fans liking the act and that it sells a lot of merchandise because Vince just doesn't see them as anything more than a mid-card comedy act. Daniel Bryan is the one real instance in which fan resolve to rally behind a wrestler so much that it forced Vince to change his mind; he may not have liked it but it was either that or watch his WrestleMania main event implode.

Then there's WWE's schedule, of which New Japan works only a fraction of. I've read somewhere that New Japan averages around 120 shows per year on average, sometimes it's a bit more and sometimes it's a bit less but 120 seems to be the average. New Japan also doesn't have the intensive travel issues as WWE does because 99% of their shows take place in Japan and since Japan is slightly smaller than the state of California, they travel to all the shows via bus with the babyfaces on one bus and the heels on another. Most of their shows are also comprised of various random tag team, six man tag team, eight man tag team or ten man tag team matches that often feature some of their top guys as a means of saving their singles matches for bigger shows. Also, when a tour is finished, such as the G1 Climax tournament, it's not uncommon for the wrestlers to be given 2 to 3 weeks off to rest up and recuperate before embarking on the next batch of shows whereas WWE is constantly on tour with...what...about 330-350 shows a year? As I mentioned about money earlier, given New Japan's lighter schedule versus that the insane one of WWE's, Omega may ultimately make a lot more money in comparison being on New Japan's schedule, where he might work 100 or so matches a year, compared to WWE where even if he didn't wrestle every single night he'd still be on the road for well over 300+ days out of the year.

I think for WWE to have any real chance of snatching Omega from New Japan, and this is just me guessing, they'll have to agree to something similar along the lines of what Daniel Bryan has allegedly asked for, including "reasonable" creative control and freedom and a reduced schedule. I read in an interview that Bryan said that his ideal schedule would be to wrestle between 70 and 100 matches per year, which means he'd probably wrestle on just about every ppv, most TV tapings and would work special live events such as a show at MSG or the super show that's going down in Australia later this year. Omega has a lot of leverage because he's the hottest singles wrestler in the world who isn't working for WWE so if they want him, I mean genuinely wan thim, then they're gonna have to make some significant concessions.