Kota Ibushi Discusses Potential Reunion With Kenny Omega

Kota Ibushi discusses a potential reunion with Kenny Omega.

Collectively known as The Golden Lovers, Ibushi and Omega previously teamed up together in DDT Pro-Wrestling, where they won he KO-D Tag Team Championship twice. They eventually went separate ways, but the duo reunited in 2018, but they haven’t joined forces since Omega left NJPW in 2019.

In an interview with Dark Puroresu Flowsion, Ibushi was asked about a potential Golden Lovers reunion. He responded by noting that it depends on the current situation with WWE and other factors. Ibushi also referenced Omega’s recent return to Japan before he stated that he intends to come back once he recovers from his injury.

“I guess it depends on the current unstable WWE situation and other factors regarding that, but not while Kenny Omega is currently continuing to rise in New Japan Pro Wrestling,” Ibushi said. “Will he drop the belt and go to AEW or where? Neither he nor I know. One thing I do know is that (1) I will be back. (2) How much I can move. (3) I don’t know if it will be this year, but I have a picture of it in my mind in the near future as much as possible. Actually. So I hope GL [Golden Lover] fans will wait for me. That’s about all I can say.”

Ibushi went on to describe how there is a possibility that he and Omega will team up again but he’d only want to do so if it was the right situation. He noted that if Omega continues to wrestle for NJPW after he loses the IWGP United States Championship, he doesn’t think they’d be able to wrestle together.

“Should Kenny continue to appear for New Japan once he loses the belt, then I don’t think we’re going to be able to wrestle together,” Ibushi said. “However, he should be under a contract with AEW that [gives him more] freedom. So I think, depending on when his timing and my timing overlap, then there is a possibility that we will tag.

“There are still more problems with that, and I don’t want to tag with him if it’s not the right] situation to do so. Because the tag team with him is more special to me than anything. I think it will finally take shape once the time when we should wrestle [together], the conditions under which we should wrestle, our respective [physical] conditions, all of that has come together.”

Ibushi hasn’t wrestled since October 2021, when he lost to Kazuchika Okada in the finals of the G1 Climax 31 tournament. He recently stated that his shoulder is “90% comeback.” A recent report indicated that Ibushi’s NJPW contract was set to expire in January 2023. More information is available here.