AEW star Kenny Omega has opened up about the life-threatening diverticulitis attack that sidelined him in late 2023, sharing in vivid detail just how close he came to tragedy. Speaking candidly on Wrestling Observer Radio, Omega revealed that doctors warned he could have died if he hadn’t acted quickly.
“The memory of it’s pretty vivid still,” Omega began, recalling the night of his final TV appearance in November 2023. “I told everyone beforehand… ‘Hey guys, like, look, I don’t know what’s wrong with me… but I really don’t feel reliable right now.’” He added, “I feel like I could just keel over… I look at myself in the mirror… I feel really pale, really blue.”
Despite feeling dangerously unwell, Omega went through with his segment, calling it a “battle of will” and a desperate mental struggle not to pass out.
Following the show, he visited a doctor and was sent home—only to be urgently called back shortly after.
“I remember going home, getting a call about an hour and a half later, and they said, ‘Yeah, do you mind coming back and just being prepared to stay in the hospital for quite a while?’”
“I said, ‘I’ll pack a bag… and I’ll head to you guys tomorrow.’ They said, ‘No, like, you need to come now… we don’t want to worry you or anything, but you could be at risk of dying.’”
The surgery and recovery that followed were grueling. Omega shared that he lost a tremendous amount of weight and muscle mass. “They had said, ‘Have no expectation… be happy with any positive improvement.’ That actually helped to hear that… not to be too hard on myself.”
Even after returning to the ring, Omega admitted he’s still dealing with significant side effects, especially after intense matches like the Anarchy in the Arena bout.
“I’ll be in bed until like 5pm, 6pm for almost an entire week,” he said. “I just don’t have the energy. I can’t move.”
The most serious long-term complication has been the adhesions in his abdomen.
“When you’re breathing heavy, when you have to use a lot of core, when you have to twist, when you have to stretch… the adhesions are binding to my inner organs. They’re pulling apart and it causes a lot of discomfort. It causes flu-like symptoms to emerge.”
As a result, Omega has adopted a more selective approach to his in-ring career.
“The ones that don’t mean anything… it’s like chipping away at what’s left, and there isn’t much left,” he reflected. “I want to make sure that the meat that is on the bone still… that it’s good tasting meat, you know, hopefully.”
Now back in action, Omega is gearing up for one of the biggest matches of his career, a title unification bout against longtime rival Kazuchika Okada at AEW All In: Texas, taking place next Saturday, July 12.
Stay tuned to PWMania.com for full coverage of All In: Texas and the latest updates on Kenny Omega’s in-ring future.
