Gabe Kidd: ‘I Got Comfortable & Lazy & I Got Fat’ After Match With Kenny Omega At Wrestle Dynasty
Kidd speaks about the stretch from January to June.
Kicking off 2025 for Gabe Kidd saw him compete in the semi-main event of Wrestle Dynasty at the Tokyo Dome. He clashed with Kenny Omega in a 31-minute match that saw Omega emerge victorious. The match brought NJPW President Hiroshi Tanahashi to tears as he watched while on commentary.
Kidd reflected on that point of his 2025 while on Midnight Kingdom and then dove into the remainder of his year up until Dominion in June. Kidd said he got comfortable, lazy, and put on weight after the match against Omega.
“You know, it was just in terms of results, the Tokyo Dome match (against Kenny Omega), obviously, it got that reaction and then, in February, the match with (Yota) Tsuji too but, I wasn’t winning and then, I had to deal with f*cking HOUSE OF TORTURE for near enough three months, you know? Well, two months, March until May. That is a lot… I really had a difficult time. I wasn’t getting results and then, I was off in May because Super Juniors was happening and I was doing things but, I wasn’t satisfied. I knew I was doing wrong in my life and I kept doing it. I was partying too much and kind of, I got comfortable after the Wrestle (Dynasty) match. I thought this is what I had been working towards; this kind of reaction, and I got comfortable and lazy and I got fat. I put on a lot of weight. Right before the Dominion match, it was, ‘I need to change.’ If I’m gonna be what I say I am, if I’m gonna do what I say I’m gonna do, there’s a lot of responsibility on me now, there’s a lot of targets and pressure on my back so, I have to strap it up and I see my life now like a samurai. I live every day with purpose. Every day, I am doing something towards my goal. There is no wasted time, and I had been wasting a lot of time but not anymore. I am on the path now, on the path to greatness and on the path to being the greatest wrestler that New Japan has ever seen.”
During that aforementioned stretch of Kidd’s 2025, he made his way over to All Elite Wrestling and aligned with the Death Riders (Jon Moxley, Marina Shafir, Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta). Kidd praised Moxley and called him a ‘true leader.’
“Well, I used it (Death Rider) to beat (Yota) Tsuji. Of course, that is homage to Jon Moxley and you know, he is someone who has also helped me change my life in a way of realizing what’s important and he is the true definition of a leader, and I have two very good people that I fight with in Jon Moxley and David Finlay obviously. They had their own personal issues last year but, I do not focus on things that are not important. I focus on the tasks that I have at hand. In New Japan, it is resurrecting this company and carrying it forward. In AEW, it is destroying it from the inside.”
Kidd is currently sidelined with a right knee injury that caused him to miss the remainder of the G1 Climax 35 tournament. He is the reigning IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion.
If the quote in this article is used, please credit Midnight Kingdom with an H/T to Fightful for the transcriptions.
