Kota Ibushi May Be Done With NJPW

Kota Ibushi is one of the top stars in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Ibushi ushered in a new era for Japan’s top wrestling promotion when he debuted the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship last year. Now, the two parties are on the opposite sides of the same coin.

Ibushi injured his shoulder at the G1 Climax in October 2021. Since then, his relationship with NJPW has become tumultuous. The Golden Star recently took to Twitter to ‘expose’ New Japan’s alleged toxic power culture and harassment practices.

Ibushi claims he was threatened with termination by NJPW talent relations staffer Kikuchi just before he started speaking out. Ibushi says he plans to release all the receipts to prove his statements about the toxic culture in New Japan Pro Wrestling.

Most recently, Ibushi removed all mentions of New Japan from his Twitter bio and changed his header image to that of the sign he held up when he announced his retirement from DDT and NJPW. Here’s the translated bio, courtesy of Google.

Born in Aira City, Kagoshima Prefecture (formerly Aira Town, Aira District). Ibushi professional wrestling research institute affiliation.

Dave Meltzer divulged on the latest scandal that has plagued NJPW on a recent edition of Wrestling Observer Radio. Meltzer believes Ibushi may be done with the promotion that has been his home for quite some time.

“There’s a very good chance that he may be done with NJPW and — then the question becomes what happens next? And that becomes a very tricky question too. Because some people will say AEW, but he really doesn’t want to move from Japan.”

Brian Alvarez noted that since Ibushi came out against his company he’s pretty much done in Japan because no other company will talk to him now. He broke a major cultural rule when he disclosed so much dirty laundry about New Japan Pro-Wrestling.

There’s more to the situation than meets the eye. We’ll have to see what’s next in store for the Golden Star. Keep checking back with Ringside News for more!

What’s your take on this story? Sound off in the comments!