'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAGAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFgABAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMH/8QAFQEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAX/2gAMAwEAAhADEAAAAK5ST2//xAAeEAACAgICAwAAAAAAAAAAAAABBAIDAAUicRQxof/aAAgBAQABPwCpmCz9ms8Wkrw2F9Jqhwr6ER6HLHdDrousRKC5IskPvWf/xAAVEQEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA//aAAgBAgEBPwCb/8QAFREBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL/2gAIAQMBAT8Ap//Z'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
AEW has seen the return of several top stars this year, but one of its biggest names remains on the shelf after suffering a life-threatening illness. Luckily for fans, former AEW World Champion Kenny Omega might be close to an in-ring return.
Aside from a health update and a beatdown by his former friends in The Elite back in May, Kenny Omega has been absent since last December. He's been gone for so long that his last in-ring opponent, Ethan Page, is the current NXT Champion.
Omega is beloved by AEW fans, and they received a spark of hope yesterday when The Best Bout Machine noted that he was in Japan because he needed some "clothes for work." This could very well mean ring gear, as Kenny's gearmaker still lives in Japan.
That hope has now intensified after new images were posted of Omega training with his longtime friends, Kota Ibushi and Michael Nakazawa, in Japan. The pictures, posted on Ibushi's Instagram account, show the former Golden Lovers sparring in a boxing ring as Nakazawa—who is wearing a sumo-style loincloth for some reason—looks on.
Check out Ibushi's post below:
Kenny Omega reminisces about acclaimed match against fellow AEW star
Before he became a co-founder and EVP for AEW, Kenny Omega gained fame as a top-tier wrestler in Japan. The Cleaner rose up the ranks in NJPW throughout the latter half of the 2010s and produced highly acclaimed matches with just about everyone he stepped in the ring with.
Back in September of 2017, Juice Robinson was still climbing the ranks in New Japan, and he had a great opportunity to solidify himself as a main-event talent in a match against then-United States Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega. The two put on a memorable bout, and Omega recently dropped some details about it.
The Cleaner revealed that he used the Super One-Winged Angel for the first time in this bout. He also praised Robinson, who is now a fellow AEW star and a member of the Bang Bang Gang:
"There is a very personal story surrounding this match that I’d love to tell but character count wouldn’t allow for it or do it justice here. Aside from all that, Juice took me to the absolute limit and this became the first time I had no choice but to use a Super OWA to get the job done. Juice ain’t no joke and he’d eventually solidify himself as a worthy US Champ himself after this," Omega wrote.
Omega has plenty of unfinished business in All Elite Wrestling, but whether he can wrestle at 100% after recovering from diverticulitis and the surgery it necessitated remains to be seen.
