Kenny Omega wants AEW to be an alternative.
In a new interview with John Pollock of POST Wrestling, Kenny Omega was asked about AEW potentially competing with WWE. Pollock brought up the anniversary of the last episode of WCW Nitro (March 26) and mentioned how fans are looking at AEW to change the industry the same way WCW and the Monday Night Wars did. Pollock asked if Omega and AEW felt any extra pressure from fans to fill the void left by WCW, 18 years ago.
"The difference between (AEW) and WCW is that, we're not looking to compete with WWE. At least, a big handful of us aren't. Other people might have their own motivations or whatever, but for us, we're very focused on becoming a wrestling alternative. In today's world, with digital streaming services, they're going to watch everything anyway. I want people to enjoy their product if that's what they're into," said Omega. "I'm never going to try to do something to undermine what they do. I'm never going to try to do something and say, 'Hey, this is a different take on what you did, except we did it better.' We want to present something completely new and different. We even want to tap into a different demographic. I've always been interested in the non-fan. For me, I'm trying to attract your average Joe or Jill and have them watch a match or performance. I hope that we're not bound to being a wrestling show. We want to be a variety show that has wrestling on it and be universally entertaining for everyone."
AEW will hold their first show as a company on May 25 in Las Vegas. You can view the current card for Double or Nothing at Fightful's events page.
Appearing at C2E2 over the weekend, Omega and The Young Bucks discussed AEW eventually becoming a full-time touring brand. As of now, they only have a handful of events announced with most storylines progressing via Being The Elite.