Don Callis Says Kenny Omega Would Have Signed With Impact If Not For AEW

When Don Callis was hired by Impact Wrestling in 2018, he had his eyes set on bringing in Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega. Callis famously helped organized the Jericho vs Omega bout from the Tokyo Dome on January 4th, 2018 that many credit with having changed the course of wrestling.

Callis recently told Fight Game Media that had it not been for AEW, Kenny Omega would have signed with Impact.

“I’ll say this: If AEW had not come into play … Kenny Omega would have come into Impact Wrestling. Not that he ever agreed to it, but it’s something that Scott D’Amore and I would have made happen,” said Callis.

At an Impact press conference to promote Slammiversary 2018 from the Rebel Nightclub in Toronto, Callis saids that he planned to pursue signing both Jericho and Omega to Impact.

“There’s a young Canadian kid I like, we’d love to sign him, his name is Kenny Omega,” Callis said. “Another is Chris Jericho.”

Callis talked about his history with Omega on the Jim Ross podcast that summer.

“I gave him his first break wrestling for the promotion I had in Winnipeg [Canada]. And his uncle, The Golden Sheik, who was an indie wrestler in Winnipeg helped train me in the [pro wrestling] business in 1989, so my roots with Kenny go back many years. I’ve been on this journey with him, and specifically since I’ve been in New Japan and we have a very close relationship. We talk about ideas, we do things, I helped put together the match between him and Chris [Jericho] for the Tokyo Dome.”