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Kota Ibushi is undoubtedly one of the world-famous wrestlers and one of the most sought-after free agents in the wrestling world today. After wrestling for the first time in 2004, the Japanese athlete has become one of the most accomplished and respected athletes in the world.
He is a former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion and has already appeared in the rings around the world. Since his contract with New Japan Pro-Wrestling expired on February 1, several federations have moved to get him. First, AEW president Tony Khan praised Kota Ibushi's talent and said he was open to bringing him into his company to join two of his great friends, namely The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega.
Ibushi teamed extensively with Kenny Omega in Japan with a tag team referred to as the Golden Lovers. The two wrestled together from 2009 to 2014 and again in 2018.
Update on Kota Ibushi
Although rumors see him in AEW, it seems that his arrival in WWE is not unlikely.
The same star would have opened to his arrival at the Stamford federation as reported by the Twitter profile of Dark Puroresu Flowsion: “Kota Ibushi is interested in going to WWE. He's good at producing great matches and beyond.
He said he doesn't believe there is anyone who can control him in there. San that if he were to go there, he would still be free." Also, interestingly, WWE has been reportedly looking to sign a major free-agent. According to the report, it could be Jay White.
His future is also to be written by the interest of Aew and WWE. Known for his matches in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Kota Ibushi also previously appeared in WWE. In 2016, the star took part in the Cruiserweight Classic reaching the semifinals where he was defeated by TJ Perkins.
The two went on to team together in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, after Kota Ibushi was initially slated to compete alongside Hideo Itami (Kenta) until he was injured. During this time he appeared on NXT, facing Bobby Roode and Buddy Murphy.
A few years ago, Kenny Omega was in Kota Ibushi's shoes as the IWGP Heavyweight Champion. “For me, I learned there are three places of expectations as champion. There is the expectation of what the fans want from you, there is the expectation of what you want for yourself, and then there is the expectation of what the company wants you to be.
I always found that, when I was wrestling for myself, I was able to take things to a certain point."