Kenny Omega has shared his thoughts on the impact of AEW opening the “forbidden door,” noting that it’s made the competition tougher on the whole. AEW has worked with a number of other companies since it launched and even WWE has done something similar with TNA and independent promotions like GCW. Omega spoke with NJPW for a new interview and was asked about how the forbidden door has affected the industry.
“I think that the concept of the Forbidden Door now,” Omega began (per Fightful), “now that the door’s been booted wide open, it’s less of a — the way that I used to picture the Forbidden Door, you picture the cartoony door at the pearly gates, it’s like you need that special permission to open that thing up. Now, I just feel like it’s a revolving door. But you go out one end, you don’t come back the other, unless you have that passion because it’s opened the talent pool so wide, and it’s made our roster so diverse with so many options that if you aren’t a complete athlete, if you aren’t a complete wrestler, you just can’t hang.”
He continued, “So is it special? Maybe it’s lost a smidge of specialness by being able to cross over that plane. But it’s made the competition that much stiffer, and it’s made the competition that much tougher. You can’t succeed now unless you’re absolutely, not only the best in America, but the best in England, the best in Australia, the best in New Zealand, the best in Japan. You have to be one of the world’s best athletes to succeed now in today’s global wrestling climate, and I think the Forbidden Door helped facilitate that.”
Omega is currently out of action with diverticulitis. He is set to make a guest appearance for NJPW at NJPW Power Struggle on November 4th.
