Kenny Omega Quotes

I get a lot of influence from pro wrestling. People are like, 'Oh, it's fake.' But it's not about whether the guy wins or loses, it's about how he entertains you the whole time you're watching.

There's so many great wrestlers in this sport who could probably work circles around me and it's amazing to see that, but I love being the kind of character who can take you on a roller coaster, make you smile and laugh.

Wrestling and sports entertainment is not about the moves, it really isn't. It's about being able to evoke emotion in one facet or another.

I am not interested in entertaining people. I think being an actor provides an opportunity to give people an experience they can connect to, reflect on, learn from, laugh at.

Wrestling was like stand-up comedy for me. Every night I had a live audience of 25,000 people to win over. My goal was never to be the loudest or the craziest. It was to be the most entertaining.

Wrestling needs to be about the art form again. It needs to be about painting a picture and having a really good match.

Being a pro wrestler can be kind of difficult sometimes. We have a perception about what we do - and I totally understand the perception, because we're a weekly episodic program, and we're having fun all the time, so people think that's kind of the most talented thing I could do.

I always tell people this - when you start wrestling, don't forget that part you liked as a child. If you can keep a bit of that in your act, you can keep a bigger audience.

As you evolve, you learn that wrestling is not necessarily about stunts or spots. You need to go out and show the audience that they can love you for the persona you are - not because of the risk you're willing to take or the jeopardy you're willing to put your body in.

It doesn't matter if you're the best wrestler in the world and can do every move perfectly; if you don't connect with the crowd or sell well or have good promos, nobody cares.

My goal in wrestling was always to take people on a journey to get a reaction and make people feel like they had seen something special. Thankfully, I get reminded of that every day.

Modern day wrestlers are fans of the performance of wrestling instead of the concept of wrestling.

When I was in England, I did a lot of wrestling and moves. Over here, they were like, 'You don't need to do that much. Save your body. Become an entertainer rather than a wrestler.' And I wasn't used to wrestling on TV and in front of huge crowds, so it was a big adjustment.

As far as the community involvement is concerned, I don't necessarily think that being a babyface or being a heel really affects that because, at the end of the day, people know that we're entertainers. We're very forward about that.

Without talent, I don't care how funny the writers are or how many comedy lines they come up, without wrestlers you can't have a wrestling program.

We use wrestling moves to tell a story but it boils down to the character and being able to bring either love or hate out of your crowd.

When I started doing pro wrestling, it wasn't the physical aspect doing the moves or taking the moves that was hard: it was interacting with the crowd, body movement, selling, getting that emotional attachment with people so they're invested in a match. That was the hard part.

One of the reasons wrestling works is because it allows people to suspend their disbelief. They may know it's not real, but if it's done well enough, they get sucked into it emotionally. And that's why they watch.

The hard part for me was not the wrestling - it was showing emotion, telling a story, and being able to connect with fans. Coming out as Ric Flair's daughter and being called athletically gifted, it's hard to say, 'Hey, like me! You can relate to me!' It wasn't working, so I completely switched my character.

People think our business is this completely fictional world of big guys in tight clothes with no brains. That's not the way it is; this is a psychology-driven business. You have to take people on an emotional ride without using words.

Johnny Valentine's the one who said, 'I can't make them believe that wrestling is real, but I can make them believe I'm real.' It would take him forever because he was just stinkingly boring for 30 minutes of the 40-minute match, but he would let people hit him as hard as they could, and he would hit people as hard as he could.

People go into that arena, and they know the fix is in. They know what pro wrestling or sports entertainment is. That being said, they want it executed to the highest level so that they can suspend their disbelief and buy in, and so, in a world of make believe, you make people believe in you. It's as real as it can be.

If you start to disrespect the character you're playing, or play it too much for laughs, that can work for a sketch, it will sell some gags, but it's all technique. It's like watching a juggler - you can be impressed by it, but it's not going to touch you in any way.

No show would be successful if you took a group of people and just said, 'You're dumb!' over and over. That's not what Broadway's about.

I question what emotion Manilow touches. People are entertained by him. But are they emotionally moved? I don't believe anything that Barry Manilow sings.