Golden Lovers
Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi, when they reunited as a tag team in 2018
Tag team
MembersKenny Omega
Kota Ibushi
Name(s)Golden☆Lovers
DebutJanuary 2009[1]
Years active2009–2014
2018–2019
2023–present

Golden☆Lovers (ゴールデン☆ラヴァーズ, Gōruden☆Ravāzu) is the professional wrestling tag team of Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi. The team was formed in January 2009 in the Japanese DDT Pro-Wrestling promotion, where, over the next five years, they won the KO-D Tag Team Championship on two occasions. The team also made appearances for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where they won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship once. The team disbanded when Omega left DDT in October 2014. Omega and Ibushi reunited at The New Beginning in Sapporo in January 2018.

History

Kota Ibushi

In July 2008, Canadian wrestler Kenny Omega started his first Japanese tour with the DDT Pro-Wrestling promotion, where he quickly became friends with Kota Ibushi,[2] with the two forming a tag team named "Golden☆Lovers" in January 2009.[1] On January 24, Ibushi and Omega defeated Harashima and Toru Owashi to win the KO-D Tag Team Championship for the first time.[3] After one successful defense, they lost the title to Francesco Togo and Piza Michinoku on May 10.[4] Over the following years, Omega and Ibushi established themselves as one of the top tag teams on the Japanese independent circuit.[5]

On January 31, 2010, the Golden☆Lovers made their debut for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), defeating Gedo and Jado by referee stoppage, when Jado was legitimately injured.[6] Afterwards, the Golden☆Lovers engaged in a rivalry with Apollo 55, a tag team made up of Prince Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi.[7] On October 11 at NJPW's Destruction '10 event, the Golden☆Lovers defeated Apollo 55 to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship,[8] in a match that was later named the 2010 Match of the Year by Tokyo Sports,[9] becoming the first junior heavyweight tag team match in history to win the award.[5] After making successful title defenses against Apollo 55 and the team of Gedo and Jado, with both matches taking place back in DDT,[10] Ibushi and Omega lost the title back to Apollo 55 on January 23, 2011, during NJPW's Fantastica Mania 2011 weekend.[11] The Golden☆Lovers received a rematch for the title on August 14, but were again defeated by Apollo 55.[12][13]

Meanwhile, in DDT, Ibushi and Omega came together with Gota Ihashi to form the Golden☆Rendezvous～ stable, with the three holding the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship from May 26 to June 23, 2013.[14][15] On January 26, 2014, the Golden☆Lovers won the KO-D Tag Team Championship for the second time by defeating reigning champions Yanke Nichōkenjū (Isami Kodaka and Yuko Miyamoto) and the team of Konosuke Takeshita and Tetsuya Endo in a three-way match.[16] On April 12, Ibushi and Omega became double champions, when the two, along with the newest member of the Golden☆Rendezvous～ stable, Daisuke Sasaki, defeated Team Drift (Keisuke Ishii, Shigehiro Irie and Soma Takao) for the KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship.[17] The trio's reign lasted until May 4, when they were defeated by Shuten-dōji (Kudo, Masa Takanashi and Yukio Sakaguchi) in their second defense.[18] Ibushi and Omega continued holding the KO-D Tag Team Championship until September 28, 2014, when they were defeated by Konosuke Takeshita and Tetsuya Endo.[19][20]

On October 3, 2014, Omega announced he was leaving DDT and signing with NJPW, where Ibushi was already a semi-regular. However, with Ibushi having recently moved to NJPW's heavyweight division, Omega stated that the Golden☆Lovers were done as a tag team due to him wanting to remain in the junior heavyweight division.[21] The Golden☆Lovers wrestled their final match together on October 26, 2014, when they defeated Danshoku Dino and Konosuke Takeshita in Omega's DDT farewell match.[2][22]

On January 28, 2018, the Golden☆Lovers were apparently reformed after Omega was seemingly kicked out of Bullet Club and attacked by fellow member Cody. Ibushi made the save for Omega as Bullet Club fled the scene. At first, Omega refused to shake Ibushi's hand, but moments after, both Omega and Ibushi emotionally embraced as confetti fell to the ring. At Honor Rising: Japan Night 2 on February 24, the Golden☆Lovers won their return match as a team against Cody and Marty Scurll. After the match, Omega and Ibushi were confronted by The Young Bucks and challenged to a match at Strong Style Evolved on March 25, which the Golden☆Lovers won.[23][24]

At Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall, Omega defeated Kazuchika Okada to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. After the match, Omega reunited with The Young Bucks, forming the Golden☆Elite along with Ibushi.

On the finals of the World Tag League, Ibushi defeated Hirooki Goto to win the NEVER Openweight Championship.

At Wrestle Kingdom, Ibushi lost the NEVER Openweight Championship to Will Ospreay and Omega lost the IWGP Heavyweight Championship to Hiroshi Tanahashi. At the end of January, Omega left NJPW to join All Elite Wrestling in the United States meanwhile Ibushi stayed in NJPW full-time, disbanding for the second time.

On the July 13 episode of All Elite Wrestling's Dynamite, Ibushi was announced as the mystery partner of The Elite in their Blood And Guts match against the Blackpool Combat Club, thus reuniting with Omega and reforming the Golden Lovers, now under the "Golden Elite" name (since Hangman Page and the Young Bucks also competed in Blood And Guts).

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. 1 2 ケニー・オメガ. New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Archived from the original on November 24, 2014. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  2. 1 2 ＤＤＴから新日移籍…オメガが日本を愛する理由. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). October 27, 2014. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  3. 1 2 "Dramatic 2009 Special". DDT Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  4. ↑ レスリングとんこつ2009. DDT Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  5. 1 2 宮本がＶ３戦にＧＬを指名. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). November 7, 2013. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Circuit2010 New Japan Ism". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  7. ↑ Counihan, Alan (November 16, 2016). "The Man In Japan: Kenny Omega's Road To The Tokyo Dome, pt. 3". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved July 14, 2017.
  8. ↑ 新日本プロレス「Destruction'10」. Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). October 11, 2010. Archived from the original on October 15, 2010. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  9. 1 2 2010年プロレス大賞. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  10. ↑ 第27代 飯伏幸太＆ケニー・オメガ. New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 22, 2016. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  11. ↑ Boutwell, Josh (January 29, 2011). "Viva La Raza! Lucha Weekly". Wrestleview. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  12. ↑ 新日本プロレス「G1 Climax XXI ～The Invincible Fighter～」最終日. Sports Navi (in Japanese). Yahoo!. August 14, 2011. Archived from the original on August 24, 2011. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  13. ↑ Charlton, Christopher (August 14, 2011). "8/14 NJPW results in Tokyo: Finals of G1 Climax tournament - MVP, Bernard (A-Train), Hoyt, Anderson, top New Japan heavyweights". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  14. 1 2 Road to Ryogoku 2days in Hiroshima～ドラマティック・ドリーム・とうかさん～. DDT Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  15. ↑ 石井、佐々木にKO-D王座を連続防衛した入江は、名古屋で高木と防衛戦へ！8月の両国大会に向け色々決定！衝撃発表！. Battle News (in Japanese). June 23, 2013. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  16. 1 2 飯伏が華麗にＫＯ―Ｄタッグ王座奪取. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). January 27, 2014. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  17. 1 2 【DDT】三大タイトルマッチ、インフォマーシャルマッチ. Battle News (in Japanese). April 12, 2014. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  18. ↑ Road to Ryogoku in Sendai〜ドラマティック・ドリーム・タン〜. DDT Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  19. ↑ 竹下、遠藤組大金星！飯伏組破りＫＯ―Ｄタッグ王座奪取. Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). September 29, 2014. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  20. ↑ 竹下組が飯伏組を破りKO-Dタッグ奪取 ディーノ、チームドリフがまさかの王座陥落. Sports Navi (in Japanese). Yahoo!. September 28, 2014. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  21. ↑ 「新日本に100パーセント集中したい」ケニー・オメガが10月でDDTとの契約終了、"主戦場"を新日本プロレスへ！【会見全文】. New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). October 3, 2014. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  22. ↑ オメガ有終星「新日本行き応援して」. Daily Sports Online (in Japanese). Kobe Shimbun. October 27, 2014. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  23. ↑ Rose, Brian (2018-02-24). "NJPW-ROH Honor Rising Night Two Results: Omega-Ibushi vs Cody-Scurll". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  24. ↑ Renner, Ethan (2018-03-25). "NJPW Strong Style Evolved Live Results: Golden Lovers vs. Young Bucks". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  25. ↑ 【後楽園リポート】トーナメント決勝戦は宮本裕向&木高イサミvs火野裕士&岡林裕二!!／インディー大賞MVPはHarashima／Takaのパートナーは小鹿. DDT Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). December 31, 2014. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
  26. ↑ "Jr. Heavy tag weight class". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved May 5, 2015.
  27. ↑ "Nikkan Sports Awards - 2010". wrestlingscout. September 10, 2016.
  28. ↑ "Southern California Match of the Year". SoCal Uncensored. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
  29. 1 2 "And The Award Goes To…". dramaticddt.wordpress.com. DDT Pro-Wrestling. 2011-01-26.
  30. 1 2 "週プロ読者が選ぶ「２０１０プロレスグランプリ」が発表に～駆け抜けたニュージャパン・クオリティ！" (in Japanese). 2011-01-19.
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