“I thought he retired”- 41-year-old wrestler returns at AEW Worlds End after recovering from life-threatening illness; wrestling fans react

Former AEW World Champion returns at Worlds End to confront old rival after being on the shelf for nearly a year.

“I thought he retired”- 41-year-old wrestler returns at AEW Worlds End after recovering from life-threatening illness; wrestling fans react

Kenny Omega returns at Worlds End (via AEW)

The AEW Worlds End PPV featured the semifinals and finals of the Continental Classic Tournament. Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay won their matches earlier in the night to advance to the finals. In the penultimate match of the night, the Japanese wrestler came out on top, winning the tournament and retaining his Continental Championship. The aftermath of this match also featured the much-anticipated return of Kenny Omega.

After Kazuchika Okada won the match, Christopher Daniels came out to congratulate the 37-year-old. The former Impact X Division Champion said that he could not present the winner with the title as he was no longer an EVP. However, he said that he knew someone who was, and out came Omega. The former AEW World Champion simply presented his arch nemesis with the belt, but no words were exchanged between the two.

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Omega last wrestled for AEW in December 2023. The Belt Collector was wrestling with a lot of pain before he found out that he was suffering from diverticulitis and was sidelined from programming. He made a one-off return on an episode of Dynamite in May, where he was put on a stretcher by Okada and the rest of The Elite.

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Okada vs. Omega is one of the most iconic rivalries of New Japan Pro Wrestling. They have faced off in singles competition four times, and all of these bouts are considered some of the best professional wrestling matches to ever take place. They have also crossed paths numerous times in multi-man matches and even teamed up once in 2023.

The wrestling world reacts to Kenny Omega returning at Worlds End to confront Kazuchika Okada

The wrestling world was surely glad to see Kenny Omega make his return to professional wrestling. He had been gone for so long that many fans thought he may have retired by now. After all, he has missed some of the biggest shows this year, such as All In. Not only did he not have a match at these shows, but he didn’t even make a single appearance.

Kenny Omega
Kenny Omega (via AEW)

Social media users were highly excited about the return of the Best Bout Machine at Worlds End. He was always one of AEW’s best in-ring workers, putting on some of the promotion’s best matches. The landscape of the company had completely changed since he was last an active wrestler. This meant various new and exciting matchups for Omega to go up against.

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Some fans were still disappointed with the way that he had made his return. Although his going up against Okada is a mouth-watering prospect, a few netizens wanted him to immediately insert himself into the main event scene, possibly involving the AEW World Championship.

Related: “Things were too chaotic for me,” Kenny Omega recalls the notorious ‘Brawl Out’ incident with CM Punk while admitting that he’s a terrible EVP