Gabe Kidd sends a message to Kenny Omega–and reveals his ultimate goal in New Japan Pro-Wrestling
“The IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, that is my future, my destiny.”
Later tonight, professional wrestling returns to Lowell, Massachusetts.
Once known as the cradle of the American Industrial Revolution because of its textile mills and factories, the city of Lowell has quietly evolved into a destination for pro wrestling.
Tucked away just outside of Boston, the Lowell Auditorium was the site where Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson won his first Intercontinental title in 1997. Nearly two decades later in 2016, the Young Bucks dazzled in a spectacular Ladder Wars match for Ring of Honor on pay-per-view, proving they were a force to be reckoned with throughout the industry. That same year, Samoa Joe surprised nearly everyone in the building when he dethroned Finn Balor to become NXT champion.
And, of course, this is the exact spot where Shawn Michaels announced to the world that he’d lost his smile.
Gabe Kidd, however, is not interested in the past. The emerging star is creating a new highlight reel in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, and his next stop is–you guessed it–tonight at the Lowell Auditorium.
“I don’t give a shit about any of those people,” said Kidd, who defends his NJPW STRONG Openweight Championship in the main event of tonight’s Fighting Spirit Unleashed card against Kosei Fujita. “Samoa Joe and Finn Balor, those are losers to me, especially Shawn Michaels.
“Tonight, you’re going to see the full Gabe Kidd experience. You’re going to find out how I leave an impression. Kosei Fujita, I’m going to break him.”
A native of Sussex, England, the 27-year-old Kidd is a key cog in the current iteration of Bullet Club. This version is far grittier and more physical than any time in its past, largely due to the presence of a Bullet Club War Dog like Kidd.
“Everybody talks about New Japan and says, ‘I wish we could go back to the way it was in 2018, that those were the glory years with Cody [Rhodes], the Bucks, and Kenny [Omega],” said Kidd. “I don’t give a fuck about them. None of them can touch me or the War Dogs.”
Self-doubt can cripple ability, but not if you’re Gabe Kidd. He has an ace up his sleeve, which is the confidence gained from a grueling stretch spent living in the New Japan Dojo for a year-and-a-half during the global pandemic.
“While everyone was at home watching Netflix and getting fat, I’d wake up at 7:30, then clean the whole Dojo–outside, everything–at 8,” said Kidd. “You train for five hours. You’re doing more than 1,000 squats, 500 pushups, Hindu pushups, then you do the laundry, cook the meals. It’s labor, and it’s every day.
“Nothing is going to be harder than that. I walked through that fire, and I chose to be there–I chose to put myself through that. It turned me into an animal, a pitbull, and now this madness keeps evolving.”
Kidd is now embarking on the biggest feud of his career, stepping into a whole new spotlight against former New Japan icon/AEW star Kenny Omega.
Omega returned to New Japan last week in Osaka at Power Struggle, where he stated his intention to wrestle at the Tokyo Dome on January 5 at the joint AEW/NJPW Wrestle Dynasty show. He is no longer in need of an opponent, as a backstage brawl with Kidd solved that problem.
“I don’t care about some guy from AEW,” said Kidd. “I don’t give a shit about him. I’ve been through a lot tougher. There were times I didn’t think I’d be here anymore on this planet. So there’s not a fucking chance someone in wrestling is going to be too tough for me.
“I don’t care if he’s a star or established. I’m better. I don’t care how big of a name he is, or that he almost died off this recent illness–he was great, but I’m better than him now.
“Here’s a message for Kenny: every time I see you, I’m going to beat the shit out of you. We’re past talking now. Any time I see him from now on, it’s on sight.”
When Kidd signed with New Japan in 2020, there weren’t any grand plans to make him world champ. He is not a second-generation star, nor does he have any famous relatives in wrestling. Instead, he has spent the last 17 years sweating, bleeding, and toiling away in pursuit of his dream. Unapologetically, he is thrusting himself onto the scene, seeking to show why he is one of the most undeniably charismatic stars in the world.
That is why this feud with Omega–and main events like the one tonight in Lowell–are so monumental. Kidd is taking the leap into the elusive next tier, and he is doing so in real-time. That all adds an extra edge to his next stop in that journey, which is wrestling’s famed Lowell Auditorium.
“I’ve done the time, I’ve done the years,” said Kidd. “No one can hang with me. There’s too much pressure, too much power. I’ll take the breath from you with one chop.
“The IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, that is my future, my destiny. No one can deny me, and I promise with everything in my soul that I will be the IWGP champion.”