Back in February, Kota Ibushi confirmed that he would be staying with New Japan Pro Wrestling until the day he dies. That news effectively shutdown the speculation that the former NEVER Openweight champion would be joining his Golden Lovers partner Kenny Omega in AEW.
During his appearance at Starrcast II, the former IWGP Heavyweight Champion did an Q&A and the topic of his former tag team partner came up; Omega spoke about why he never asked Ibushi to join AEW and it was all due to the New Japan star looking to achieve his goal of being the IWGP Heavyweight Champion:
"I knew I couldn't ask [Kota] Ibushi to sign [with AEW]," Omega said before pausing to compose himself. "I knew it was his time [in NJPW]. I knew that if I asked for him to come [to AEW], that he would. And if I begged for him to come that he would. But I knew that his dream, before anything we ever did, was to win the IWGP Heavyweight Belt."
Ibushi previously revealed in an
interview that he always felt overshadowed by Omega in NJPW, as the AEW star has a G1 Climax win and an IWGP Heavyweight title reign under his belt, something that 37-year-old has yet to accomplish. Ibushi is locked down with a two-year deal with New Japan Pro Wrestling.