Beneath six foot of hulking muscle and a profession in pummelling fellow wrestlers into the bottom, AEW legend Kenny Omega is an enormous nerd. It’s no secret: his signature transfer within the ring, One Winged Angel, is a homage to Final Fantasy 7‘s iconic villain Sephiroth. At last month’s Wrestle Kingdom 17, Omega entered the sector dressed as Sephiroth (full together with his theme tune blaring) earlier than profitable the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship.
When he isn’t beating different wrestlers into submission, Omega is a big fan of Japanese role-playing video games (JRPGS) like Final Fantasy. Speaking to NME, Omega says that a few of his different favorite video games embrace Chrono Trigger and Earthbound, and explains he’s “always been fascinated by the culture and almost everything that’s come from Japan.”
“It felt like this place was calling me,” recollects Omega, who says that past these JRPGs, he owed his due to Japan for every part from his favorite anime to wrestling promotions was. As Omega grew older, he discovered his love for Japan’s skilled wrestling scene solely grew stronger, and he remembers considering “somehow, some way, I need to find a way to Japan.”
However, Omega wouldn’t get to tour the nation till 2008, years into his wrestling profession. Before that, Omega says he discovered solace from an unlikely supply: Sega‘s Yakuza sequence, an open-world motion recreation that tells the story of Yakuza member Kazuma Kiryu as he brawls his method by way of an intricate felony conspiracy.
“Before I was able to make those dreams come true, playing [the first] Yakuza when it was released for the PS2 was my way of artificially living in that world, of living vicariously through the characters,” says Omega, who beloved leaping into the sport “to walk the city streets and feel like a dude struggling to make ends meet, just trying to make something of myself.”
Fast-forward, and Omega – now a bonafide legend in Japan’s wrestling scene and past – shall be starring within the upcoming remake of Yakuza spin-off Like A Dragon: Ishin. Omega will characteristic as a Trooper Card referred to as ‘Essence Of The One-Winged Angel’ (in fact) in Ishin‘s Battle Dungeon side-game, and the wrestler is ok singing his personal praises.
“Whether you know me or don’t, or like wrestling or don’t like wrestling, [Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio] crafted up a Trooper Card that’s just all-around useful,” says Omega. “I don’t know if I can say it’s busted, but I mean…it’s great for crowd control. If you guys want a card that’s reliable and can carve down foes, you’re gonna want the Kenny Omega Trooper Card.”
Though the cameo looks like a match made in heaven, Omega isn’t solely positive the way it happened. “There’s no specific answer – I don’t even know what I did,” laughs Omega, who says that attending to tour Ishin writer Sega’s headquarters might have proven off his “deep and profound” love of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio. Of course, the wrestler additionally shot his shot and informed Sega how lengthy he’d wished to work with the corporate. Eventually, Omega was invited to star in a promotional video for one in every of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s showcases, which in flip led to his look in Ishin. However, it’s doubtless Omega didn’t convey up the one-sided grudge he held with the developer whereas he was wrestling within the New Japan scene.
“We did collaborations with Bandai Namco and various animation companies,” Omega explains. “There was a moment when some of our guys in New Japan turned up in Yakuza 6 and as soon as it was announced and I wasn’t involved, I did the very mature thing – the adult thing – and said I’m gonna boycott your series. I’m not gonna play it, because you should know how much this means to me, gosh darn it.”
Omega’s private campaign didn’t final lengthy, and he admits to getting again into the sequence with 2020’s Yakuza: Like A Dragon. “I was like oh man, I’m so silly – why did I do this to myself? I love this series so I said forget it, water under the bridge, I still love you,” Omega recollects, including that he “pretty much yelled to whoever would listen that ‘everyone’s got to be playing this series because it’s so incredible’.”
Getting to star in Ishin is a “dream come true” for Omega, whose lifelong love of gaming means he takes his PS5 on any journey longer than two days. “It takes up all of my backpack space and weighs like 300 pounds” he laments, although admits he’s at the moment “pretty deep” into the a lot lighter cell card recreation Marvel Snap. As for his personal card in Ishin, Omega couldn’t be happier. Beyond making him look “at least 10 to 15 years younger,” the method has been a delight for Omega: “It was a really cool collaborative effort where we were kind of able to work on it together – the art they have crafted is fantastic.”
Interview by Jake Tucker.
Like A Dragon: Ishin launches on February 22 for PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.