10 Modern Wrestling Moments That Gave You Chills
3. The Reunion Of The Golden Lovers
Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi are two halves of a breakable lock heart pendant.
Together, they share the same soul, which manifests onscreen as sensational chemistry and timing, and a camaraderie that is beyond endearing. Apart, the pathos lingers, as if neither is truly whole.
The Golden Lovers split earlier in the decade, as each man shared the same dream at different times: to conquer the apex of New Japan Pro Wrestling. Kota Ibushi did so first, only to fail. He gave up on the dream, burdened by his dual DDT/New Japan schedule - and, perhaps, an already flighty mind his erstwhile lover could not tether. This might read as histrionic, but it's no less true; Omega and Ibushi plotted this ambitious years-long arc together, working the happenstance into its fabric.
In the win/loss ranks, Omega fared much better, plotting an unassailable course to the IWGP Heavyweight Title marked by all-time great matches. But still, moments of doubt and anguish plagued him, particularly when he cost Ibushi his dream in order to protect the Bullet Club. He needed love to power his final ascent.
The Bullet Club, or at least Cody, turned on Omega at The New Beginning in Sapporo 2018. But, in beautiful poetry, his friend had not betrayed him. His best friend, his lover, made the save.
Omega embraced Ibushi, and the pendants locked under raining confetti, as years of conflict washed away in a moment of real beauty and release.