Kenny Omega Tops PWI 500, Rumored Owens Plans, NXT/WWE Crossover

The Bullet Club members have been changing the game in pro wrestling for years now, especially group leader and current IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega. The group was certainly recognized in this year’s edition of Pro Wrestling Illustrated 500 list. The list of the top wrestlers from the past year was released today and it gave the prestigious number one spot to Omega this year. Jim Ross revealed on his Jim Ross Report podcast that Omega topped this year’s list for the first time ever in his career, and this year’s list also featured fellow New Japan Pro Wrestling competitors Tetsuya Naito at number nine, Cody Rhodes at number eight, and 2017 winner Kazuchika Okada at number three.
Kevin Owens received another loss when he faced Seth Rollins on Raw earlier this week, and afterwards, Owens took a microphone and announced that he was quitting WWE. His profile has since been moved to the ‘alumni’ section on WWE’s website, but the belief is that Owens’s sudden WWE departure is all part of a storyline. Plans for that story have just been laid out on BarnBurner’s Fired Up show, and they definitely sound intriguing. It was noted during the show that there have been talks within the company about bringing Owens back to television with Paul Heyman as his manager. With Brock Lesnar now on hiatus from WWE, Heyman needs a new client and Owens could be aligned with him very soon.
Several fans have made the argument that the amount of talent on the NXT brand is just as stacked as the main roster WWE shows right now. Performers such as Ricochet, EC3, Velveteen Dream, Undisputed Era, Moustache Mountain, Pete Dunne, Aleister Black, Keith Lee, Tommaso Ciampa, and Johnny Gargano have all made NXT a must-watch program, but could a main roster crossover event be on the way. During BarnBurner’s Fired Up podcast, it was noted that WWE is exploring the option of having NXT Superstars invade the main roster and later competing in a massive showdown. The topic has reportedly been brought up by WWE officials several times and it could be happening within the next one or two years.