Karl Anderson on the Rise of Kenny Omega, AJ Styles, & Best Wrestler

Recent episode of The Steve Austin Show Unleashed podcast show had Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson as the guests discussing a variety of wrestling related topics. Topics answered by Anderson included Kenny Omega’s rise as a big star, becoming friends with AJ Styles in NJPW, and who he currently considers to be the best wrestler in the world.

On the topic of Kenny Omega’s rise as a big star, Anderson stated Omega’s stardom rise in NJPW has been great and praised Omega’s creativity and athleticism as the key contributors of it.

“Kenny Omega has had a great rise. He is a great buddy of mine. When he got into the Bullet Club it gave him a big shove, so it is cool to see where he has been going now because he’s a great athlete. I have had some great matches with him all the time, in 6-man, and 8-man tags on the road. He is a real creative, different cat. He’s from Canada and those Canadians are different cats. It’s cool to see that rise.”

On the topic of becoming friends with AJ Styles, Anderson stated he initially was not sure if Styles would fit in as the new boss of Bullet Club after Finn Balor left. He quickly came to appreciate Styles greatness as a performer and developed a close friendship during their time together in NJPW.

“I didn’t have a relationship with AJ Styles when he came over. Finn Balor had just signed with WWE so I wasn’t sure what he was going to be like. I wasn’t sure if he was willing to do the ‘Too Sweet,’ I just didn’t know how some guys were going to be like. We started doing that and it was different. He just committed completely to it,” Anderson said. “He was great with us, and in the ring I was blown away with how incredible he was. Over there it’s a different style and a different reaction. He got it so quickly.”

On the topic of who he currently considers to be the best wrestler in the world, Anderson mentioned AJ Styles as his choice. He was really impressed at the very short time Styles needed to become a big star in NJPW and to adjust to a new style of wrestling.

“AJ Styles, and I’ve been saying this since I first saw him wrestle in 2014 in Japan, he is easily the best wrestler ever in the world. Right now, he is the best wrestler in this world at this moment,” Anderson said. “If you ever get a chance to go back and see some of the matches in Japan, you think about some of the people who do it and say how cool the move was, but with AJ you look back and see how he sells stuff. He gets punched in the face and he’s over. He is unreal. When he first debuted in Japan, I don’t think people knew who he was because it is what it is, so he had an uphill battle, and literally turned himself into a Japanese wrestling legend because of the stuff that he has done in a short amount of time.”