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Another Report On WWE’s Pursuit Of Kenny Omega
Another report discussing WWE’s pursuit of Kenny Omega!
Since losing the IWGP Heavyweight Championship to Hiroshi Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom 13 this weekend, it’s hard to find anybody that’s been more talked about than Kenny Omega and where he will decide to sign next.
While clearly the upstart All Elite Wrestling is one of the favorites to acquire his services, there had been talk that New Japan Pro Wrestling could remain his home as well. However, a recent report claimed that ‘The Cleaner’ would not be re-signing and may even finish up with the promotion this weekend, adding that there may be a big angle at New Year Dash!! (see that report here). It should be noted that early this morning for us here in the United States, New Year Dash!! came and went without any appearance by Omega (check out results here).
We’ve also heard how WWE has made Kenny Omega what was said to be a “fantastic offer“, speculation being that the contract offer in question was reportedly $3.5 million. Today, there is more indication that WWE has made a strong overture towards ‘The Cleaner’, as the WrestleVotes Twitter account reports one source has said that should they not sign him, it wouldn’t be because of a lack of effort:
Texted a source regarding Omega & WWE’s offer to him. Got back “If they don’t land him, it’s not their fault for lack of effort. They’ve done what they can”
Translation: WWE wants Omega. I’m assuming the offer is strong, especially financially. Decision is all his at this point
— WrestleVotes (@WrestleVotes) January 5, 2019
EA’s Take: I feel much more confident in what WrestleVotes is saying than anything else, given the track record. The one thing I really have questioned (other than if Omega’s actually even considering WWE because I think AEW and NJPW will work together) is that reported $3.5 million. That’s insane money. Like, we’re talking immediately he’s in the top five earners with Lesnar, Cena, Triple H and Reigns (if you go by the 2018 list). Does WWE want him THAT badly? I can’t rule it out and I’ve certainly been wrong before, but boy does that sound like it’s high to me.
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Did your picks win points?
The AEW Continental Classic is underway, with almost everyone competing. Check in here if you haven’t seen the winners and losers of week 1!
Here are your Gold League standings!
- Jon Moxley: 1-0, 3 points
- Swerve Strickland: 1-0, 3 points
- Jay White: 1-0, 3 points
- Rush: 0-1, 0 points
- Mark Briscoe: 0-1, 0 points.
- Jay Lethal: 0-1, 0 points
Here are your Blue League standings!
- Brody King: 1-0, 3 points
- Claudio Castagnoli: 1-0, 3 points
- Daniel Garcia: 0-1, 0 points
- Eddie Kingston: 0-1, 0 points
- Bryan Danielson: Yet to Compete
- Andrade El Idolo: Yet to Compete
My Thoughts:
Nothing too crazy, nothing too wild, this tournament only just got started. The only disappointing point is that they could not get Bryan “cleared to compete” Saturday night. Not sure how much of that is shoot given the bad eye, but this was kinda the problem of wanting him in the tournament over tons of other choices. Bryan wants to face Okada for WrestleKingdom 18, how is Bryan supposed to do that at his best if he’s also gonna be in a round robin, doing five top level matches in about as many weeks? And it takes away from Andrade being able to do something. Also a little surprised we didn’t even hear from Andrade on Saturday.
Now as we heard on Saturday, round two’s matches are set. Gold League will see Mark Briscoe VS Rush, White VS Swerve, and of course, Moxley VS Lethal. Nice variety there, a couple 0-1 guys facing off, as well as two 1-0 guys, and then 1-0 VS 0-1. No offense to Lethal, but he feels like an 0-2 going up against Moxley. Hard to call the other ones but that’s the fun of it. Meanwhile, Blue League sees Brody VS Claudio in a showdown to be 2-0, then Bryan and Andrade finally jump in, Bryan against Eddie and Andrade against Garcia. Sadly, feels like Eddie and Garcia are going 0-2, no way Tony Khan is booking Bryan and Andrade to lose their first shots.
In fact, that could be half the reason they did wait on those two, that’s almost too good for just a first round opener. But I still would’ve done it, same as NJPW does stuff like that for round robins, which this is all modeled after anyway.
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Tony Khan Reveals the Blue and Gold “Leagues!”
Originally livestreamed, Tony Khan and Tony Schiavone officially announced the twelve total entrants and divided them into the two round robin blocks known as the “Blue League” and “Gold League.” If you don’t feel like sifting through the almost 30 minute video, the groups are:
Blue League
- Bryan Danielson
- Andrade El Idolo
- Brody King
- Claudio Castagnoli
- Daniel Garcia
- Eddie Kingston
Gold League
- Jon Moxley
- Swerve Strickland
- Rush
- Mark Briscoe
- Jay Lethal
- Jay White
Tony Khan also explains the rules for the Continental Classic:
- Every match has a 20 minute time limit
- The winner of each match earns 3 points, losers earn 0, 1 point for a draw
- EVERYONE ELSE is banned from ringside for true 1v1 action
Eddie Kingston also joined the selection special as his “life’s work” is on the line in this tournament, both the ROH World Championship and NJPW Strong Openweight Championship on the line as part of the modern day North American Triple Crown Eddie, Tony Khan, AEW, ROH and NJPW are looking to create together. Gold League competes tonight on Dynamite while Blue League will have their start this Saturday on Collision. Look for more articles like this one to keep up with the Continental Classic standings over the next six weeks of tournament action!
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