Kenny Omega has opened up about why Being The Elite came to an end, offering a candid explanation that reflects how much the landscape around the series has changed since it first launched.

During a recent discussion with Adi Shankar, the AEW star looked back fondly on the origins of the groundbreaking YouTube series, which he helped build alongside The Young Bucks, Hangman Page, and Cody Rhodes. However, Omega also revealed that evolving online culture played a major role in its eventual conclusion.

“The thing is, it was like myself, the Bucks, Hangman, Cody. It was like all of us, respectful, polite individuals, always trying to do things , we would never go out of our way to maliciously hurt anybody,” Kenny Omega said. “And if ever we did anything in character in that manner was to tell a story and ultimately be in jest."

Omega noted that revisiting old footage recently with The Young Bucks brought back both laughter and a sense of loss for the free-spirited creativity they once enjoyed.

“But as the times changed, and I was actually recently watching some old clips back when I was joking around with the Bucks because they were going through some old footage, we’re just laughing at all these old scenes. We’re just doing the silliest of things, and it’s like we knew we were joking. People loved what we were doing back then. And they’re all laughing with us and at us, and we love that they were."

Yet despite the harmless nature of the content, Omega said the team felt pressured to stop because of how quickly people take offense now , and how that offense can be weaponized.

“But we’re just like, man, isn’t it kind of sad that we just can’t do it anymore? And it’s like, who did we hurt by doing this? Nobody. Who’d we hurt if we did it again today? Nobody. But it would offend somebody, and then that somebody would go out of their way to make sure they would hurt us. You know what I mean? And they would feel empowered by that. And that’s like, okay, well I’ll just stay in my shell and just do what I’m being paid to do then. That part of it was kind of a Debbie Downer.”

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