Kenny Omega Emotionally Explains Why Kota Ibushi Will Not Be In AEW

Former New Japan Pro Wrestling stars Young Bucks, Cody Rhodes and Kenny Omega all made the jump from NJPW to AEW after the Wrestle Kingdom 13 show on January 4, 2019. However, some of NJPW’s top stars stayed loyal to the Japanese promotion, with Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kota Ibushi all opting to stay.

Ibushi, the current IWGP Intercontinental Champion recently signed a massive lifetime contract with the promotion that will see him stay there until his wrestling days come to an end.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p662GqRaAd0

Speaking at the Starrcast II convention, Kenny Omega got emotional while explaining why his Golden Lovers tag team partner stayed with NJPW and did not sign with AEW:

“I knew that I couldn’t ask Ibushi to sign because I knew it was his time, and he deserved it,” Omega said as he teared up. “Anyway, I knew that if I asked for him to come here, that he would. And if I begged for him to come, that he would. But, I knew that his dream before anything that we ever did was to win the IWGP Heavyweight Belt”.

https://twitter.com/ThatWas3Too/status/1132832524416167936

It is a shame that we won’t get to see Kota Ibushi in AEW mixing it up with guys like Cody, Jon Moxley, Chris Jericho and even Kenny Omega, but it is nice to see his friend fully supports him achieving his dream in NJPW.

This comes after it was reported that Kenny Omega wrestled his AEW Double or Nothing main event match against Chris Jericho with a broken nose. He would ultimately lose the match to the former WWE star.

Thanks to WrestlingInc. for the transcription.

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• NJPW
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