When Kenny Omega announced to the professional wrestling community that he was going to be out of action indefinitely in AEW after suffering a medical emergency that was later reported to be diverticulitis, it called the very future of the Golden Jets, his tag team with Chris Jericho, into question.

Sure, Tony Khan could simply vacate the tag team's spot as the number one contender for the AEW World Championship, as it's borderline impossible to imagine “The Best Bout Machine” working in less than three weeks at AEW's final Pay-Per-View of the year, but it's just as likely that “The Ocho” could opt to find a new partner in order to wrestle a tag team match mere miles away from where his father played hockey professionally as a member of the New York Rangers.

But, if that scenario were to come to pass, who should Jericho choose as his next partner? Could he take a page out of his own proverbial history book and work alongside someone like Sammy Guevara once more? Or maybe he could call upon another member of The Elite for help, even if the Young Bucks have been MIA for weeks and “Hangman” Adam Page has plenty of other issues to deal with at the moment? Well, based on the options on the table, here's one performer Jericho should absolutely pursue as a new partner in place of the “Cleaner” and one he very much should avoid.

Kota Ibushi should not replace Kenny Omega at World's End.

If there's one performer Chris Jericho should not enlist to work alongside at World's End, it's Kota Ibushi.

The semi-official third member of the Golden Jets who gave the group its Golden moniker, Jericho and Ibushi have shared the ring in AEW on four occasions, most recently in a Like A Dragon Gaiden Streetfight that saw Paul Weight – who also shouldn't be Jericho's partner – decimated by Power House Hobbs before disappearing from AEW television ever since. While this would be the easiest way to fill in for Omega, as Ibushi is already under contract with AEW and the story basically writes itself, the idea of Jericho and the “Golden Star” getting in the ring together for a match against Ricky Starks and Big Bill isn't particularly promising, as the match doesn't sound like it would be very good.

Ibushi, to his credit, has found a way to return to the ring after suffering some pretty brutal injuries at the end of his run in New Japan Pro Wrestling, with the former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion going from October of 2021 to March of 2023 without a match as a result. Still, his performances in AEW haven't been particularly impressive over his limited run with the company, which is unfortunate because Omega is already the performer typically tasked with lifting up the in-ring efforts of the group.

Could Ibushi play a role in Jericho's match at World's End? Sure, but why waste this opportunity on a known performer who likely won't garner many headlines when AEW could instead give Jericho an exciting surprise partner who could garner headlines and an exciting angle until Omega returns?

Nic Nemeth should replace Kenny Omega at World's End.

So, if Kenny Omega can't team with Chris Jericho at World's End, the performer who should take his place should be Nic Nemeth, aka WWE's Dolph Ziggler, who will officially be free to wrestle wherever he'd like by the final weekend in December.

An unconventional pairing? Sure, but not an unprecedented one, as Jericho and Nemeth have wrestled 42 times over their shared near-two decades in WWE, with the then-Ziggler notably winning a WWE contract versus Money in the Bank contract over “Y2J” on RAW in 2012 amid a feud between the two Superstars. Considering Nemeth has reportedly already garnered plenty of interest from AEW wrestlers eager to see Ryan Nemeth's older brother become a member of the promotion, with some suggesting that he could become a client of CJ Perry – which is just an okay idea – why not book Nemeth like a true star in first major appearance outside of WWE and either set up a feud with Jericho if the match goes poorly – work or shoot – or have him stick with “The Ocho” for the foreseeable future regardless of how things shake out for Omega?

Frankly, it's not like fans were particularly fond of the Jericho-Omega pairing to begin with, as folks were lambasting their “Big Billie Starkz” promo on Dynamite from the second it hit the airwaves. If Nemeth is available, which by all accounts he is, why not debut him in a big way on a major Pay-Per-View to make the most of an otherwise incredibly unfortunate situation and place him in a program with his fellow former WWE Superstar?