I think, for many people, they think there's one giant promotion, and that's all that there is. It must be the best. But as they expand their palate and their horizons, they realize that, oh, there's other wrestling out there. They might not necessarily like it more, but it's an option now.
You should never bury someone to forward your own personal interest. And I would never do that to anyone else on the planet.
A lot of my main-event matches will last around the half-hour mark, and if you can have a variety of emotions within that half hour, that's a great story from start to finish.
I could say, you know, if I could work with Seth Rollins at some point in time, that would be a lot of fun.
I am invading homes everywhere, all over the Internet and on TV - all you have to do is search the name, and you can find me anywhere, from New Japan World to Ring of Honor.
Really, Tanahashi belongs in the WWE. He can be the next Roman Reigns.
The IWGP title makes me a legend. I've committed half my life to this, and it's worth all the sacrifice. Not only was it worth it, but it was worth it and then some.
Ibushi isn't going anywhere. He's staying with me, and I support his success 100%. But we will continue our success as the Golden Lovers, both as a tag team and as single performers.
There are days when you have tag matches, but you need to prepare for your next singles match on that same day.
While I'm still healthy, while I still have ideas in this crazy head of mine, I want to contribute, and I want to do things that are going to make wrestling fans happy and are going to make new people into wrestling fans that were wrestling fans before. I want to contribute in that manner.
I loved DDT for the freedom; I was able to tell the wackiest and wildest of stories but also test myself as an athlete.
I take a lot of pride in what I do.
I always try to be safe; even when something looks dangerous, it actually isn't to me.
A finishing move is an important part of one's character - and sometimes success.
What true 'Strong Style' really is, is the battle of the heart of man. It's not about how strong and how forceful you're throwing your blows. It's showing the never-say-die attitude of the human spirit. As long as it looks like you're fighting and giving your all, people will believe.
I guess what Kenny Omega is, even though the image is something that was given to me by New Japan and then tweaked by me, it's just me, Tyson Smith. Yeah, that's me, just a guy that likes to joke around when he doesn't have to be serious. And when he has to be serious, he's really serious!
All I know is what I have been given and what opportunities lie before me. Try to make the best of them, and I'm not going to give up until I make it to the top.
WWE, of course, has had some fantastic two out of three falls matches.
As an artist, I really feel I need an outlet to exhibit all of my skills.
Since I'm not in WWE, some people think I'm not even in their league. It's easy for me to tune those people out because they have no idea what they're talking about.
I have this original style that I want to show to the world. I don't want to be kind of this beat down, bruise-you-up kind of dude and have Karl Anderson cut all my promos for me. I don't want to have to do that.
I am flawed, but at least I can admit it, and at least Kenny Omega, Tyson Smith, is exposed to every single one of you, every single night I perform in the ring. And the relationships that I have in my life with the fans, they're all with me. We are all family.
If people love you, if you're making money, if the performances you have are unlike anything anyone has ever seen, you get put in a position to be the man.
Not to knock TNA, but there's too much hokey talking and segments that don't really involve wrestling.
When you are in WWE, you're really strapped down by their rules and writing.
I don't want people to look back at my matches and say, 'When you did that move, it was good, and I liked it because it was cool.' I want people to sort of remember a rush of images and the emotion that they felt when they saw it. That's when I think you have a real masterpiece in your hands.
If I lose my confidence, then I'll lose my way.
I loved Japanese culture before even realizing it was, in fact, Japanese culture. The cartoons and anime I was watching as a child, my favorite video games, and even in pro wrestling - my favorite wrestlers and matches originated in Japan.
It's easy to make rude comments simply for the sake of being rude, but I'd much rather go a more psychological route.
A lot of people, especially performers in wrestling, feel that winning the title is the only statistic that matters, but it's always about the journey. If you don't have the people behind you, believing in you, and the start of a new chapter after winning the title, then you don't have anything.
What I'm trying to say, in general, I think, as long as you try as hard as you can and show that you can answer the call and run with the ball when you get it, there really is no limit.
Fans, wrestlers, and even the general public have been conditioned to believe that there's an enormous skill gap between WWE and everyone else.
The best wrestler in the world is me.
I have sort of made it my mission to be treated less as a foreigner, less as a guest.
We have a very physical performance art. A lot of times, when you want to achieve a certain emotion, you have to use professional wrestling ingredients, which are moves or a sequence of moves.
Okada and Tanahashi, they don't mind being the wrestler that approaches everything day-of in the ring. I like to go in-depth, to tell the human side of Cody Rhodes, the human side of Kenny Omega. That's why Being The Elite exists.
I'll take all my matches against WWE's best matches, I'll put it up against Ring of Honor's best matches, or whatever promotion you want, and I guarantee people will be more entertained with my matches than theirs.
Here's the thing: Tanahashi has this idea that wrestling has to be a certain way. There are borders that you shouldn't cross. Wrestling should be wrestling; there's a 'classic' way. But the thing is, when I watch a Tanahashi match, I feel nothing.
Everything we do in general, there's gonna be a percentage of risk. Me, making my entrance to the ring, there's actually a percentage of risk I'm going to trip and fall and hurt myself. Me, getting up on the apron, there's a percentage of risk.
A lot of people think that comedy is sort of a cop out to not wrestling seriously, but I actually would argue that comedy is much more difficult than wrestling seriously because you have to be creative in almost everything that you do if you want the comedy to make sense within the realms of pro wrestling.
The problem with Deep South to me is that there was a group that were tight with the boss, and they would always go out and drink and have barbeques. Then, when WWE would say, 'Who should we look at?' Bill Demott would say, 'Oh, look at this guy and this guy.' Of course those were his buddies.
Back in the day, when I was getting into the business, you could watch Pro Wrestling Noah. You could watch Ring Of Honor Wrestling, and a lot of people would say, 'the best wrestling in the world is actually at Ring Of Honor.'
I still feel there is more to this Kenny Omega character, and there are more stories I need to tell, and New Japan allows me that freedom. That is a freedom I earned through the hard work I put into the company.
As naturally athletic as I'm gifted to be, where certain things came easily, I always rely on my brain first.
I really want to be an integral part of the New Japan brand in the United States - and other countries, for that matter, too. I feel that I have a certain versatility that other wrestlers do not.
There are people who would love to see me fail.
This IWGP title means more with me than any WWE championship.
The WWE belt means nothing; it means absolutely nothing. They pass around that belt like a hot potato. I probably have a neighbor on my block who held that belt at one point. There is no prestige to that belt whatsoever.
As a kid, when the neighbors were out playing street hockey or tackle football, my friends and I were in my basement with the NES/SNES.