Kenny Omega claimed he continued to try and handle the pain on his own, even developing a formula for his matches so he could keep going, but even that wasn’t enough. “It was a mental struggle of ‘don’t fall over, don’t pass out, don’t struggle, like get through this one segment!'” he said and added that he eventually had to go to a hospital and was asked to come back for an extended stay, which he wasn’t too keen about at first. “And they’re like: ‘Well, we don’t want to worry you or anything, but you could be at risk of dying, so you need to come now.'”

Omega then recalled that he ended up losing a lot of weight and muscle during the time he was being prepared for surgery, but noted he wasn’t too hard on himself despite the odds he was facing. “I remember not having any core stability, of course – you know – levels of power, endurance, stamina, they’re just all gone…” he recalled, but claimed he could feel himself improve in small increments. “I got myself into a position where I felt like, ‘Yeah, maybe I could do this again?'” He then admitted that the Tokyo Dome show he did around this time was something he was so thankful for that he wouldn’t have cared if he was forced to retire then; however, Omega is very realistic about the time he has left in the industry.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “Wrestling Observer Radio” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.