Kenny Omega
Tyson Smith, Kenny Omega, is the executive vice president of AEW and performs for this brand in the ring. He is an AEW World Champion. Apart from that, Omega has a history of various nicknames like gaijin, Cleaner, and even Collector. So why is he called “The Cleaner”?
Kenny Omega was able to win championships in these independent wrestling promotions including the World title at AEW and is hailed as one of these titles, the best professional wrestlers in the world.
Kenny Omega used to be called by the nickname of The Cleaner. However, he said that his otaku gimmick was too bubbly for the Bullet Club, which led to adopting the moniker Cleaner, which refers to those who clean up crime scenes.
While talking to Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated (h/t Braden plays), Omega told about “The Cleaner Character” ‘s Origins.” He said that when someone hears the name “The Cleaner, ” people generally don’t think about him as an assassin. However, they actually think that he cleans stuff.
He mentioned that it was getting difficult for him to explain to people that they are the Bullet Club- There are guns and The Cleaner who actually cleans up the crime scene.
Omega used a broom for the first time in his career as a reference to his nickname so that people could get its literal meaning, and it was pretty simple.
He mentioned that once he was about to make his entrance and this long ramp, he realized how he could make his entrance stand out.
Thats’ when he added the broom. He used this as a sweeper, a microphone, a guitar, and even as a headset, all about his nickname. That’s how the origins of The Cleaner came into action.
Omega was quoted saying in the interview,
“When you hear ‘The Cleaner,’ and when Japanese fans hear it, you don’t think, ‘Oh, this guy is an assassin.’ They think I clean up stuff. I started to realize there was a little bit of a disconnect, and it was beginning to become difficult to say, ‘Don’t you get it? We’re the Bullet Club–there are ‘guns’ and ‘The Cleaner’ cleans up the crime scene afterward.’ I had to explain that so often, I felt it was easier just to take the literal form of it. Sure, I can look the part of the assassin, but what if instead of a sniper rifle, I’m carrying this huge broom? Every venue has a broom, so I don’t need to put a broom in my gear bag.
“The first time I used the broom, I was about to make my entrance and we had this huge, long ramp. I hate the boring long walk, and I wasn’t going to do the Ultimate Warrior sprint, but I wanted to make the entrance more interesting. I asked myself, ‘How am I going to make that element of Kenny Omega stand out?’ So I added the broom. There are so many things you can do with a broom–I’ve used it as a sweeper, a microphone, a guitar, I’ve put it on a headset. Those are just things I think of on the spot. Sometimes I’ll even sweep away [Kazuchika] Okada’s’Rainmaker’ money because, if we’re going to be honest, I had seen Matt [Jackson] almost slip on the money–so I thought I should clean it up before someone else slipped on it.”
The Cleaner has been one of the best wrestlers in the wrestling industry, having collected almost all the major titles in these independent promotions.
Kenny is now called “The Belt Collector” or simply “Collector” since he has held over fourteen different championships in major promotions in his career so far.
Omega is a AAA Mega Champion, AEW World Tag team Champion with Hangman Page. He has won the AEW World Championship in late 2020.
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