Tyson Smith was born on October 16, 1983. He is a Canadian-born professional wrestler better known by his ring moniker Kenny Omega. He is now under contract with All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he also serves as an executive vice president. Omega also competes in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is currently the reigning IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion.
Omega was formally recognized for his time in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he held the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, the IWGP Intercontinental Championship, and the inaugural IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion, among other championships. He was a member of the Bullet Club stable, and eventually served as the group's leader, and was also noted for his video game-inspired demeanor.
| Name | Tyson Smith |
| D.O.B | October 16, 1983 |
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
| Weight | 99 kg |
| Occupation | Professional wrestler |
| Professional Debut | February 2000 |
| Ring name | Kenny Omega |
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Tyson Smith was born in the Canadian city of Winnipeg. He grew raised in the Winnipeg neighborhood of Transcona. Smith’s mother works in family services, while his father is a transport officer for the Canadian government. Smith’s interest in professional wrestling began as a youngster when he watched records of WWE (then-WWF) Saturday Night’s Main Event, which became his favorite show. Smith was a goaltender when he was younger. He has also worked at IGA and Costco locations.
Smith grew interested in a professional wrestling career when one of his Transcona Collegiate Institute (TCI) buddies began training with Top Rope Championship Wrestling (TRCW) in Winnipeg. Smith abandoned his ice hockey dreams and began training with TRCW promoter Bobby Jay, whom he met while stacking shelves at an IGA. Smith, then 16, made his professional wrestling debut in 2000 after a year of training with Jay. He then wrestled for TRCW for two years, using the gimmick of a Hawaiian surfer named Kenny Omega.
The surfer part was eventually discarded in favor of an otaku-inspired gimmick. He graduated from TCI in 2001 and enrolled in university, but dropped out during his first year to pursue professional wrestling full-time.
Within the vast expanse of the independent circuit, Omega’s incandescent star ascended to majestic heights, mesmerizing fervent acolytes and captivating the collective imagination of wrestling aficionados worldwide. His resplendent odyssey traversed myriad promotions, but it was in the reverberating confines of New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) where Omega etched his magnum opus. From the year 2010 until the year of 2019, his tenure in NJPW emerged as an opulent tapestry, resplendent with his awe-inspiring in-ring virtuosity and his magnetizing aura of charisma. Ascending to the pantheon of wrestling luminaries, Omega became an integral cog in the enigmatic machinery known as the Bullet Club faction, entwining his fate with luminaries such as the revered Kazuchika Okada, the enigmatic Tetsuya Naito, and the resolute Hiroshi Tanahashi. It was amidst these epic confrontations that Omega’s masterpieces were woven, his balletic symphony of warfare against Okada, in particular, becoming a resounding opus, an immutable testament to his artistry, and resonating through the annals of professional wrestling history as a magnum opus etched in the sands of time.
In a seismic shift that reverberated through the hallowed corridors of the wrestling fraternity, Omega’s tenure with NJPW reached its culmination, his contract expiring in the nascent stages of January 2019. As whispers of a potential union with the monolithic behemoth known as WWE began to permeate the collective consciousness, Omega upended the paradigm, leaving the world agog by penning a revolutionary pact with All Elite Wrestling (AEW), a nascent promotion masterfully crafted by the visionary Tony Khan. In the fertile soil of AEW, Omega discovered fertile ground, a veritable canvas upon which he could breathe life into his dreams, and shape the destiny of a fledgling empire. As he walked the hallowed halls of AEW, Omega seized the mantle of the AEW World Championship, adorning his resplendent brow with the crown of supremacy. Engaging in titanic confrontations against the pantheon of pugilistic excellence, including the intrepid Jon Moxley, the enigmatic PAC, and the venerable Chris Jericho, Omega wove tapestries of sublime artistry, each chapter a veritable symphony of poetic violence, a testament to his unrivaled brilliance.
While Omega’s sojourn in the dominion of WWE remains but a fleeting brushstroke upon the vast canvas of his career, it is a chapter that cannot be overlooked. In the halcyon days of the early 2000s, Omega graced the developmental territories of WWE, finding himself in the ebullient embrace of Deep South Wrestling. Though his tenure within the hallowed halls of WWE may have been transient, it served as a crucible, a crucible from which Omega emerged, forged by the trials and tribulations that permeate the very fabric of the wrestling industry.
In summation, Kenny Omega’s contributions to the pantheon of the independent circuit, particularly his opulent tenure within the embrace of NJPW, have cast him as an immortal, a colossus whose presence reverberates across the annals of time. While his tryst with WWE may have been ephemeral, it played an indispensable role in shaping the contours of his destiny, fashioning him into the transcendent entity he is today, soaring to celestial heights within the empyreal dominion of AEW.
On February 7, 2019, Omega inked a four-year contract with All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Omega, along with Matt and Nick Jackson, is an executive vice president of the promotion as well as an in-ring performer. He competed in the promotion’s first event, Double or Nothing, where he lost in the main event to Chris Jericho, after which both men were assaulted by Jon Moxley. Omega assaulted Moxley the next month at Fyter Fest in reprisal for Moxley’s prior assault.
A bout between Omega and Moxley was slated for the All Out pay-per-view, however, Moxley withdrew due to an MRSA infection. Omega instead faced Pac at All Out, where he was beaten. Omega was put out by a returning Moxley during a six-man tag team battle on the first edition of Dynamite on October 2, with Omega’s side subsequently losing the fight. Omega was beaten by Moxley in an unofficial Lights Out match in the main event of Full Gear on November 9.
He won a competition to decide the number one contender for the AEW World Championship from October to November 2020, defeating Adam Page in the final round at Full Gear. On December 2, Omega defeated Jon Moxley to win the AEW World Champion for the first time, with the assistance of Don Callis and then turned heel. Following his victory, he appeared with Callis on the December 8 broadcast of Impact!, forming a collaboration between the two. He contested for the promotion at the Hard To Kill pay-per-view in January 2021, partnering with his former Bullet Club stablemates Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows to beat Rich Swann, Chris Sabin, and Moose. Omega defended his championship against Moxley in an Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch at Revolution in March.
Omega beat Swann in a Winner Takes All match at Impact Wrestling’s Rebellion pay-per-view in April 2021 to retain his AEW World Championship and also win the Impact World Championship. The following month, he successfully defended the AEW World Championship against Pac and Orange Cassidy in a three-way match at the Double or Nothing event. Omega retained the Impact World Championship after defeating Sami Callihan in a no-disqualification match at Slammiversary. On the August 13 inaugural edition of Rampage, he lost the Impact World Championship to Christian Cage.
Omega beat Cage to retain the AEW World Championship at All Out in September. During his victory celebration with The Elite, which included Omega, The Young Bucks, Gallows, and Anderson, Adam Cole, who hugged the group, and Bryan Danielson, who joined Cage’s side, made their debuts. In November, he was defeated by Page at Full Gear. For the second time that year, Pro Wrestling Illustrated named him first among the top 500 male professional wrestlers. Omega retired from competition in November 2021 owing to injuries. He had a hernia and knee surgery.
Omega made a surprise appearance on Dynamite on August 17, 2022, as The Young Bucks’ mystery partner in the inaugural AEW World Trios Championship tournament, defeating La Facción Ingobernable (Andrade El Idolo, Rush, and Dragon Lee) in the first round. The next week, in the second round, they defeated United Empire (Will Ospreay) and Aussie Open (Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher). The Elite defeated “Hangman” Adam Page and The Dark Order (Alex Reynolds and John Silver) at All Out on September 4 to win the inaugural AEW World Trios Champions.
Following the All Out post-event media scrum, Omega and The Young Bucks engaged in a legitimate physical brawl with AEW World Champion CM Punk and his buddy Ace Steel, in response to remarks he made about them and others during the scrum. As a result, Tony Khan, the president of AEW, suspended everyone involved. On the September 7 edition of Dynamite, Khan stated that Omega and the Bucks’ World and Trios Championships had been vacated.
Omega and The Young Bucks made their return to Full Gear on November 19, fighting Death Triangle for the AEW World Trios Championship in a losing effort. The first match of a Best of Seven series between the two teams was announced. The series finished with an Escalera De La Muerte Ladder Match on the January 11 episode of Dynamite, in which The Elite triumphed, winning the Best of Seven series 4-3 and reclaiming the World Trios Championships. The Elite successfully defended themselves against The Firm, AR Fox, and Top Flight (Dante and Darius Martin).
The Elite lost the AEW World Trios Championships against House of Black on March 5 at Revolution, bringing their second reign to an end after 53 days. The Elite tried to reclaim the belts ten days later on Dynamite, in a three-way trio match against House of Black and The Jericho Appreciation Society (JAS), in both Omega’s and the JAS’s Chris Jericho’s birthplace of Winnipeg, but were unsuccessful, as House of Black maintained the gold. The Blackpool Combat Club and Hangman Page brawled at ringside after the bout, prompting the Elite to stand beside their former stablemate Page, however when the Blackpool Combat Club departed, Omega declined to further embrace Page.
Omega fought his first broadcast singles bout in over 5 months on the March 22 episode of Dynamite, defeating AAA Mega Champion, El Hijo del Vikingo, in a non-title match. After the bout, Omega was assaulted by Blackpool Combat Club members Wheeler Yuta, Claudio Castagnoli, and Jon Moxley, who had previously attacked The Young Bucks. The three guys left as Hangman Page arrived and attempted to help Omega. However, Omega’s manager, Don Callis, feigned an injury at the hands of Page, forcing Omega to exit the ring and refuse to accept Page’s assistance again.
Omega successfully defended his IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship the next week against Jeff Cobb. Following the bout, Moxley, Castagnoli, and Yuta attempted to assault Omega once again, surrounding him, only to be halted by Bryan Danielson, who seemed to come to Omega’s aid, only to attack him shortly after, rejoining his Blackpool Combat Club stablemates.
During a steel cage fight between Omega and Jon Moxley on the May 10th, 2023 episode of Dynamite, Don Callis turned against Omega by stabbing Omega with a screwdriver, allowing Moxley to win. The next week, on May 17th, Callis was attempting to justify his conduct. Omega emerged only to be ambushed by the Blackpool Combat Club. The Young Bucks (Nick and Matt Jackson) and a returning “Hangman” Adam Page stepped in to help, resulting in an 8-man tag team bout between The Blackpool Combat Club and The Elite at AEW Double or Nothing 2023.
