We are in for a great two nights of action from New Japan Pro Wrestling this weekend, with many of the companies top stars set to be in action. However, there is one name that you will not be seeing on these events. That would be former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kota Ibushi, as his NJPW contract would end on January 31st – ending an on and off relationship with the company dating back to 2009.
NJPW Announces Kota Ibushi
This would be confirmed by NJPW themselves, who would announce Ibushi was gone on NJPW1972.com.
“With the conclusion of his contract period on January 31 2023, Kota Ibushi has departed New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Ibushi had been recovering from injury since October 2021.
We apologise to Ibushi’s fans for the abrupt announcement, and join them in wishing Ibushi the very best in all his future endeavours.”
While NJPW notes that this was abrupt, anyone who has followed the online activity of Ibushi since his injury in the finals of the 2021 G1 Climax tells a different story. To summarise, NJPW tried to push Ibushi to return before he was ready – which led to him calling the company ‘exploitative’, which just led him to running out the remainder of this contract.
Set To Make GCW Debut, Tony Khan Wants Ibushi In AEW
We do know a few details about the future of Ibushi in professional wrestling. He is already announced for The GCW Collective during WrestleMania weekend, where he will take place in Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport – confirmed to be facing Impact Wrestling star Mike Bailey. Ibushi intends to work a more grounded and hard hitting style going forward, likely souring on high flying after a botched Phoenix Splash took away nearly two years of his career.
When it comes to the burning question of “Will he be heading to All Elite Wrestling?”, we only know that Tony Khan is interested in bringing him in – saying the following on Busted Open Radio.
“Well, there’s a lot of great free agents in the world of pro wrestling. Certainly, Kota Ibushi is a great talent. When you have a name like that, that’s somebody that everybody in the world of pro wrestling would be very fortunate to have in their promotion. We’ve really wanted to work with him in the past, so it’s certainly something we would have to consider.”
Ibushi has a lengthy relationship with Kenny Omega in both NJPW and DDT Pro Wrestling, collectively known as The Golden Lovers – which is a story Tony Khan would love to pen the next chapter of.
Will Ibushi head to AEW? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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