AEW: Kenny Omega Talks Grueling Rehab, Says Another Injury Setback Could Lead to Retirement

06/29/2022 04:31 pm EDT

Kenny Omega was a guest on Wednesday's CEOGaming Twitch stream and was asked about his current recovery process. "The Belt Collector" stepped away from in-ring competition after dropping the AEW World Championship to Hangman Page late last year in order to undergo surgery to repair a number of injuries. Omega said the rehabilitation for those injuries has been incredibly painful, going so far as to say he'll retire if he suffers another injury setback.

"Look, I... if I get another major setback, that's it. I'm done. Because I can't do this ever again. It's like two times, three times a day, really painful rehab. And without even knowing what's it going to be like once I get back in the ring. I have no clue. It's scary actually," Omega said.

Omega recently told Fightful that his goal was to be back in action in time for the AEW x New Japan crossover event, Forbidden Door, but realized even being backstage to help produce matches leading up to Double or Nothing was too much too soon. The pay-per-view came and went this past Sunday without any appearance from "The Cleaner."

"My timetable, before all of this started, I wanted to be back for [Forbidden Door]," Omega said. "Being back for this show was incredibly important to me and I really wanted to mix it up with somebody from New Japan, and it sucks that I couldn't do it. It's to the point where I want to be on this show even if it's just to do commentary. I just want involvement, but I'm not there yet. I don't want to take a spot from anybody. I don't want to put a spotlight on myself when it's not going to lead to anything. I'm definitely cool to sit and cheer on the sidelines for everyone to go out there and kill it and have a great show. In terms of timeline, I put myself back on the road to help out with some of the Owen Hart Cup matches, and I felt it was too soon. It was too difficult for me to miss three or four days of rehab, and to have to put myself in a position where I was flying again and being hands-on with talent. When I'm trying to agent something or show something, when I'm moving from point A to point B backstage, I'm moving quicker than I thought that I would and doing more than I thought and I'm not eating or resting properly. I felt it really started to set me back. I'm not saying I would have been ready for Forbidden Door had I not done it, but when I started to recognize that it was a detriment to my recovery, I kept myself home and I'm focusing more on what I can do remotely and I'm doing everything I can for the game to make sure we can make release,"

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