Why AEW Put Kenny Omega vs Bryan Danielson On First At Dynamite Grand Slam

Kenny Omega is currently the AAA Mega Champion and also the AEW World Champion. He remains booked as one of the best champions in recent memory and his high work rate speaks for itself. He also successfully retained his AEW world title against Christian Cage at All Out.

Omega is also very passionate when it comes to his love for pro wrestling but he is also outspoken, so Omega is never afraid to speak his mind when the time comes. Omega also faced off against Bryan Danielson during AEW Dynamite Grand Slam, in a match that received universal praise from fans and pro wrestlers alike.

The bout was truly a match of the year contender and fans loved it, but many felt that it was wrong of AEW to give away a match of such calibre on free television instead of at one of the big pay-per-views.

While speaking on his 83 Weeks Podcast, Eric Bischoff talked about Kenny Omega vs Bryan Danielson’s match and explained why putting the match on free TV was a brilliant move on AEW’s part.

“I thought it was brilliant to put it on free tv. Look, much like WCW was, at this point and stage of their evolution, AEW is primarily a television company and television drives pay per view and vice versa. As AEW is continuing to grow their audience, which they are, what better way to continue to grow that audience for your foundation for the future [than putting the match on free television]?

“They’re still not even half of a decent rating on SmackDown. They’re probably only about 65% of a decent rating on RAW. They’ve got ground to cover. What better way to cover or begin to cover it by bringing in Bryan Danielson and Kenny Omega and putting it on free tv? They’re going to make their money on pay per view, especially with that [time limit draw] finish down the road. But as an investment, what a fantastic way to open up that show.”

Kenny Omega also stated that he made Bryan Danielson hobble home like a lump of ground beef. It remains to be seen if the two will clash again somewhere down the line.

h/t to Wrestling Inc for the quotes.

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