Kenny Omega talks NXT.
Before the Wednesday Night Wars between AEW and NXT officially began on Oct. 2, the war of words through the media was well underway. Kenny Omega did a fair amount of trash-talking, cutting promos on NXT having developmental talent who would be in the opening match to his main event.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Omega discussed fans choosing sides in the war.
"They choose their favorites and as soon as they feel threatened that their favorite won't be considered number one by all of the public, they have to react in such a manner where they feel threatened," said Omega. "They have to put people down and say mean things and they lash out. I get it, but it's preposterous. I hate to say it, but if Adam Cole is your favorite wrestler, Adam Cole doesn't wish [I would break my neck]. We're trying to represent ourselves as best we can on a respective side. Adam Cole is not trying to put us out of business. That's not his goal. He's trying to perform to the best of his ability and put forth an effort he's proud of. It's not in an effort to hurt us or have us without jobs."
AEW Dynamite drew more viewers than NXT for the first seven weeks of the head-to-head battle, but NXT won the viewership battle on Nov. 20. However, AEW continued to draw stronger in key demographics, losing only the 50+ audience.
I only just started to watch NXT. Even though people call it a war, I never considered it as such. I was always at war with myself. We have enough struggles putting on a week to week show, so much that I can't even worry about other things. If anything, I'm worried about satisfying the network and deal with the hurdles going up against MLB or NBA. You have this make-believe war that everyone is having fun with. I haven't put much effort into thinking about and I don't think about counter-programming," said Omega. "NXT, I don't want to sound derogatory, I can see how they're winning that demographic of 50 and over because they have a great, solid wrestling product. Those are probably the people who came up watching traditional wrestling that happens in the ring. AEW is more so of a variety show. You're going to get in-ring action, but you're going to get oddball stuff too. They're two very different shows. But me, being a wrestling fan, I can watch and enjoy all of them. I think it's cool that the ratings are close together and it's not like, they're having a terrible show but we're neck and neck. Both products are hitting it out of the park every week."
Viewership numbers for the Nov. 27 episodes of AEW Dynamite and NXT are unavailable as of this writing due to Thanksgiving.
Elsewhere in the interview, Omega addressed the criticisms levied at AEW over the women's division. You can view his full comments by clicking here.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit Wrestling Observer Radio with a h/t to Fightful for the transcription.
