Pro wrestling fans love a great long-term story, and one of the most emotionally wrenching is that of the relationship between Kota Ibushi and Kenny Omega, known together as the Golden Lovers. Tag teams and occasional rivals, Ibushi and Omega have been weaving what is unironically pro wrestling’s greatest love story, an ongoing narrative of breaking up and making up between two of the best performers in the world.
The Golden Lovers have been inextricably linked since 2008, so modern fans who have jumped on to New Japan Pro-Wrestling and All Elite Wrestling in recent years may not know much about their relationship. Let’s run through the history of the duo, covering what fans need to know about this narrative.
10 They Met In DDT
The Kenny/Kota relationship started way back in the mid-2000s, when Kenny Omega was a former WWE developmental wrestler who was branching out in the growing independent scene. Kenny saw videos of Kota Ibushi wrestling for Japanese promotion DDT Pro-Wrestling, and soon began calling out Ibushi online, cutting video promos to get his attention.
DDT caught wind of it and brought Omega over to Japan in 2008, where he had his first encounter with Ibushi, a hardcore 2/3 falls match that quickly left the ring so the two could execute creative spots all over the venue.
9 Kenny Thought They Were Going To Be Rivals
According to Kenny Omega himself, Omega watched the aforementioned videos of Kota Ibushi and saw something special. He realized that this was a man who understood wrestling in a way akin to his own sensibilities.
Omega expected that he and Ibushi were going to be career-long rivals but this turned out to not exactly be the case. After their initial match in DDT, the two not only struck up a friendship, but a partnership.
8 The Golden Lovers
In January of 2009, Ibushi and Omega formed a tag team called The Golden Lovers, a duo of high flying babyfaces who were pretty much explicitly in love with one another. The Golden Lovers quickly rose to the top of the tag team division, capturing DDT’s KO-D Tag Team Championship, holding it for 106 days. They would score a second run with the belts in 2014 as well, reigning for 245 days.
Omega and Ibushi would find success outside of DDT by the 2010s, defeating Apollo 55 for New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title. That bout would earn the two frequent appearances in New Japan, especially Ibushi, who would soon become a featured player in the Junior Heavyweight singles division.
7 Their Second Singles Match
By 2012, Kota Ibushi would not only be IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, but also KO-D Openweight Champion -- DDT’s top title -- at the same time. That same year, Kenny Omega won the King of DDT Tournament, earning a title shot at Ibushi’s Openweight belt at Ryogoku Peter Pan, the promotion’s biggest show.
Four years after their initial encounter, the Golden Lovers would put on a 37-minute classic against one another, with Ibushi not only retaining the belt but also kicking out of Omega’s unbeatable One Winged Angel finisher, making Kota the only person to ever do so.
6 Their First Split
Kota Ibushi’s continued success in New Japan would result in him signing to the promotion in 2013 under terms that would allow him to work in both NJPW and DDT. After a final tag team match together in DDT, the two would go their separate ways, with Ibushi working in NJPW’s heavyweight division while Kenny Omega would sign to NJPW in 2014 and wrestle as a junior heavyweight -- while affiliated with the heel faction Bullet Club.
This would result in a huge betrayal at 2015’s Invasion Attack: while Kota Ibushi was challenging BC leader AJ Styles for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, Omega intentionally distracted his former partner to help Styles retain.
5 The Reunion
Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi would have little interaction after that day until the end of the G1 Climax, with Ibushi encountering Omega backstage after the latter’s loss in the finals. Ibushi would attract the attention of Bullet Club member Cody Rhodes, leading to an incident in early January 2018 where Cody and some of his BC cronies attacked Ibushi only for Omega to make the save.
Kota Ibushi would return the favor later that month after Rhodes turned on Omega, leading to a great big hug between the former partners, confetti literally coming down from the ceiling, and the reuniting of the Golden Lovers.
4 Their Reunion Caused A Rift In Bullet Club
As alluded to above, Kenny Omega’s affection for Kota Ibushi got him on the Bullet Club’s bad side, despite being the leader of the group. This allowed Cody Rhodes to essentially assume unofficial leadership of the group, leaving Omega on the outs. But Omega had Ibushi on his side, as well as a few BC dudes who were loyal to him.
One of the biggest rifts in the group was between Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks, leading to a huge, acclaimed match at NJPW’s US event Strong Style Evolved in March 2018. However, that rift would be healed after Omega defeated IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada, reuniting with The Bucks and forming a sub-united called Golden Elite with Ibushi.
3 Their Third Singles Match
By the late 2010s, Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi were both in the Heavyweight Division in NJPW. Omega openly wanted to fight Ibushi in the 2017 G1 Climax finals, but it didn’t work out that way. They did, however, meet in their third and final match to date, in the 2018 G1. Playing off their previous matches, Kenny attempted an Avalanche One Winged Angel off the top rope to ensure that there would be no kick out, but this Kota countered and got the win.
2 Their Last Matches Together
That G1 match led to Ibushi challenging Omega for the IWGP Heavyweight Title, but Cody Rhodes inserted himself into the match, making it a three-way at King of Pro-Wrestling in 2018 where Kenny would retain. Despite all this, the two would still team up in matches, often teaming with Kenny’s Bullet Club friends.
Their last match together would happen in December 2018 as Omega and Ibushi took on their respective Wrestle Kingdom 13 opponents Hiroshi Tanahashi and Will Ospreay in an acclaimed effort.
1 Kenny Didn’t Ask Kota To Join AEW
WK13 would be Kenny Omega’s final NJPW match, as he was leaving to start a new promotion, All Elite Wrestling, while Kota Ibushi would stay in New Japan. The two still refer to one another from time to time, with Kota mentioning in a backstage interview that he doesn’t think about Kenny. Kenny, somewhat infamously, spoke in an interview about why he didn’t ask Kota to join him in AEW.
Crying, he said he knew Kota would have come with him, but Kenny knew that winning the IWGP Heavyweight Championship was his dream, and he couldn’t take that away. Given the “Forbidden Door” being open, however, the two may reunite someday.