In case you haven’t heard, Fightful Select is reporting that Kenny Omega’s return to AEW is in the not-too-distant future, with Tony Khan and company already readying their roster for the “Best Bout Machine’s” eventual return.

All things considered, this is very good news indeed.

Though Omega’s absence has been for the right reasons both in and out of storyline, as giving the former champion a chance to right his medical woes with some much-needed surgery both ensures that he will return healthier than when he left and provide the promotion with a chance to “move on” from his championship reign without having the specter of the “Belt Collector” haunting the title run of his former tag team partner, “Hangman” Adam Page, it’s hard to argue that AEW is better off without their EVP on weekly TV, as his drawing power is legit.

Need proof? Well, look no further than Impact, who saw their viewership numbers spike considerably when Omega was a fixture of their weekly television show alongside his Good Brothers buddies and the “Invisible Hand of Professional Wrestling,” Don Callis. Though it’s hard to quantify his exact impact on the AEW viewership numbers, Omega’s bouts both on television and on Pay-Per-View have consistently been considered among the best in the promotion’s history, as his four five-star matches, according to Dave Meltzer, clearly proves.

So, with Omega due for Dynamite in the not-too-distant future, let’s take a look at three potential programs that could jumpstart his return and immediately immerse fans in the sort of best bouts “The Cleaner” has made his in-ring calling card.

3 big-time bouts for Kenny Omega's return to AEW.

3. Adam Cole

When Kenny Omega left AEW television at the end of 2021, the Super Elite were a very different faction.

For one thing, they were called the Super Elite, not the Undisputed Elite, and didn't yet feature Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly, the latter of whom wasn't even in the company at the time.

Since then, seemingly every member of the faction has suffered some sort of injury, Adam Cole's leadership abilities have started to wane, and the relationship between the Young Bucks and reDRagon is about as good as their relationship with Omega, whom they low-key betrayed at the end of his title loss at Full Gear to “Hangman” Adam Page.

So, if Omega returns and the Bucks remain faithful to the man they help to form AEW with, conventional wisdom would suggest that Cole would be among the first people in the “Belt Collector's” sights, as the one-time NXT Champion has overseen the group going from one of the most feared united in All Elite Wrestling to one without a single championship or any strong, factional fortitude.

2. Jon Moxley/CM Punk

If AEW wants to milk the Undisputed Super Elite – or whatever it would be called – for a bit before they throw things into a full-on Civil War, why not throw Omega right back into the title picture and have him test his mettle against either Jon Moxley or CM Punk, depending on who has the belt at the time?

In AEW, Omega's deepest-seated rivalry is with Moxey, with the duo throwing down in an impromptu backstage brawl on the first episode of Dynamite, the duo wrestling a Lights Out match at the end of 2019's running of Full Gear – a match that saw the promotion brought up on charges by the Maryland athletic commission for bleeding – and even in the first-ever Forbidden Door match, where Omega and Kenta wrestled Mox and Lance Archer. With two championship wins over Mox in his career, Omega may be looking to make bring that number up to three, even if it doesn't come in an Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match.

And as for CM Punk? Well, he reportedly wants to hold the as-of-yet-unissued AEW Trios Championships alongside FTR; why not have that match versus AEW's original trio, The Elite?

1. Will Ospreay

And last but certainly not the least contentious, we get to the hottest sub-tweeting feud in all of professional wrestling: Kenny Omega versus Will Ospreay. As you can read here, Omega and Ospreay hate each other, with the duo throwing shots at each other in interviews, on social media, and even by mockingly kicking an opponent out of their signature finisher.

The duo have over half a decade of in-ring experience against one another, with their first bout dating all the way back to PWG's All-Star Weekend 11 in 2015, complementary styles, and enough malice that even the most well-planned out match could quickly devolve into a shoot-fest with V-Triggers and Hidden Blades connecting with particular ferocity and no finisher, not even one of the most protected moves in the business, the One-Winged Angel, being safe from a scored “Commonwealth Kingpin” looking to settle a very personal grudge. Forbidden Door II, anyone?