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Anyone who listens to Jim Cornette's podcasts knows how much he hates Kenny Omega. There are several reasons that Cornette hates Omega, but one of the biggest sins was when he wrestled a third-grade girl. It wasn't just that Omega wrestled a nine-year-old, but it was that he sold for her and made her look good in the match. While this speaks volumes about Omega's work in the ring, for Cornette, it was a complete embarrassment for the entire industry of professional wrestling.
However, while Cornette doesn't care about why Omega wrestled the little girl, that was an important part of this entire match and experiment. For Cornette, it was a fully grown man letting a little girl look good offensively against him in a wrestling ring. This, according to Cornette, ruined the magic of professional wrestling. For Omega, it was a lot more important than just pandering to what one former wrestling manager believes about kayfabe in the industry.
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Why Did Kenny Omega Wrestle A Little Girl?
Most people who hear about Kenny Omega wrestling a nine-year-old girl learn about it from someone like Jim Cornette. In these cases, the comments are just about it being an embarrassment to professional wrestling. There was a lot more to the story than just Omega letting a little girl look good in a match against him. Omega talked to Chris Jericho about this match on an episode of Talk is Jericho. Omega said the match against the little girl was his favorite match to wrestle that entire year.
In Japan, kids who want to become professional wrestlers start their training at a very young age. For example, former AEW World Women's Champion Riho began professional wrestling in 2006 when she was nine. This match with Omega happened in a company called Dramatic Dream Team Wrestling (DDT). The girl wanted to become a wrestler, but DDT wouldn't sign her to a deal. They placated her by setting up a match with Kenny Omega. "She was a huge wrestling fan, and she was really jealous and heartbroken that all these girls were getting scooped [up] from the shoot boxing academy to become pro wrestlers because she was the biggest fan of them all," Omega said. He felt bad and wanted to do something nice for her.
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Kenny Omega's Match With The Little Girl
Kenny Omega told Chris Jericho that DDT asked him about doing mixed gender matches, and they agreed he could work a very safe match with the little girl. He had worked with other developing talents and had a reputation of not hurting inexperienced opponents. DDT set it up as an exhibition match where Omega could help make this little girl's dreams come true. Kenny knew that this would put a blemish on his record, and he actually knew that it would cause things like Jim Cornette's future rants, considering this a cringy moment in Omega's career.
"It's a huge risk because that's a permanent black eye on your career. It's possibly career suicide," Omega explained. "If you hurt a girl in front of a huge, sold-out crowd and then that goes online, and you know how things work. And then, I just become a laughingstock if I wasn't already. Do you know what I mean? But I think the positives outweighed the negatives." The little girl, Haruka, got the chance to make her dreams come true. Kenny Omega had a small enough ego that he went out there and give this moment to her, knowing what it would look like to people on the outside looking in.
In the match, Haruka proved she could pull off some impressive moves. She delivered a 619, an enziguiri, a spinning hurricanrana, and even a suicide dive. The match started off with Omega offering a handshake and Haruka kicking his hand away. When he went for a clothesline, she ducked it and kicked him in the crotch. She started delivering kicks and blows and slipped out of an Omega offensive move to hit a spin and then finished the routine with the 619. Omega then took the advantage and hit a backbreaker and slammed her into the buckle a few times, with the little girl selling the move. Haruka then almost pinned Omega with a kick to the face. The time limit draw ended, and the little girl soaked in the cheers from the crowd. While it embarrassed Jim Cornette, the fans loved it and Omega made a little girl's dream come true.
