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What’s the story?
Current Bullet Club leader Kenny Omega recently sat down for an interview with Japanese sports newspaper Tokyo Sports. During the interview, Omega revealed that he still kept in touch with AJ Styles and that he had a good relationship with the Georgia native.
In case you didn’t know…
During his NJPW run from the 2014-2016, AJ Styles was part of the infamous Japanese faction called the Bullet Club alongside Kenny Omega.
Styles made his NJPW return in the year 2014 during the company’s Invasion Attack event and immediately challenged Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship; he also became the leader of the Bullet Club, taking the reins from Prince Devitt (Finn Balor).
During his time as the leader of the group, Styles was acknowledged as a heavyweight and became a two-time IWGP Heavyweight champion, whereas Kenny Omega was the group’s junior heavyweight and became the Junior Heavyweight champion.
However, during NJPW’s New Year Dash event in 2016, Omega and the rest of the Bullet Club turned on AJ Styles and kicked him out of the group. The Cleaner then took over as the leader.
The heart of the matter
During the interview with Tokyo Sports, Omega acknowledged his relationship with Styles. The Cleaner, who recently made his in-ring return after undergoing knee surgery, claimed that he spoke with Styles over the phone recently.
Former WWE champion AJ Styles recently made his return to Japan on a live tour with WWE and was seen having dinner with his former Bullet Club stablemates but it was noted that Omega could not attend the reunion due to his knee injury.
However, the two men spoke over the phone and Omega also claimed that AJ seemed to be concerned about his knee injury and asked Omega about his road to recovery. The current IWGP US Champion then added by saying that he also checked up on AJ’s condition as well.
“AJ watches my matches in NJPW, and told me, ‘You’re trying hard’ I don’t know if he really thinks so or not. We are rivals as athletes. Even if we can’t have direct matches, we are fighting on our own qualities,” Omega added.
What’s next?
The current plan for Kenny Omega is to make his return to ROH where he will defend his IWGP US Heavyweight Title against Yoshi-Hashi.
As for AJ Styles, he just lost his US Title to Baron Corbin. Reports suggest ta
Author’s take
It is great to see Kenny Omega and AJ Styles still keeping contact with each other, and acknowledging each other. It is a pity that they haven't been able to have a high-profile match with each other as they might well be the two best wrestlers on the planet.
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