Kenny Omega is still looking at the positives.
Omega was credited with the following statement in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter about the “dud” ending of his Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch against Jon Moxley at AEW Revolution on Sunday:
“Yeah, it was really deflating to do so much preparation, test the explosions, have them be impressive in the rehearsal, and then have it be something so much different than what was promised,” said Omega. “It made me appreciate everyone who worked hard and did their part even more, though. But like you said, we really wanted to have a good one, and we added real barbed wire to help with the feeling of danger so we really risked a lot. Again, I loved the match, glad we did it, sucks about the finale.”
This week’s Observer followed Omega’s statement with the explanation that the final explosion was tested and successful multiple times in test runs, but the live run was a dud. It was also noted that Eddie Kingston’s continued selling, along with Tony Khan acting like it was intentional made the response much worse.
During Sunday’s Revolution post-show media call, Tony Khan defended the lack of a blast to close the show by claiming (in canon) that Omega’s crudely-built ring was supposed to be a dud, and that would be the storyline explanation moving forward. The match ending was further addressed on Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite, with Kingston claiming he stayed on the mat so long due to a flashback and panic attack, while Omega mocked him and started the countdown clock again.
“When I went in the ring and I covered my friend thinking there’d be a big explosion and all these fireworks I caught a flashback to the last time I had this kind of anxiety,” admitted Kingston. “The last time I had this kind of panic, I couldn’t breathe. That was when I was sitting in a jail cell waiting for court and I had the guards telling me, ‘We’re gonna take you to Riker’s boy!’ ‘We’re gonna take you to Sing-Sing boy!’… Everything went black. That’s what happened. Call me a coward, a mess of a man. I’m not speaking to you. I’m speaking to those that understand where I come from.”
