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My favorite wrestler this week is Kota Ibushi, and I’d really like to tell you why. I’ve gone on many, many times before about how exceptional and unique a wrestler Kota Ibushi is. Right here, for instance. But 2017 has been a fairly quiet year for Ibushi.
Certainly, he’s been active, with matches in DDT and New Japan, but he’s not been a regular in either promotion for quite some time. His highest-profile match of the year wasn’t even technically an Ibushi match, when his masked alter-anime-ego Tiger Mask W faced Kazuchika Okada in a non-title match way back in March for New Japan’s 45th Anniversary show.
While the match with Okada is one of my favorites this year, it felt almost like a tease, as the Tiger Mask W character hasn’t been featured heavily in New Japan since. It’s like we got this one insanely good match to remind us how good Ibushi can be, then nothing.
Then all of a sudden, Ibushi, in all his wondrous glory, was announced as a participant in the 2017 G1 Climax. Ibushi is back!
Ibushi makes the cover of Japan’s Weekly Pro-Wrestling.
While technically, he wasn’t really gone, Ibushi in the G1 feels like his official return since his last match in the company as Kota Ibushi was back in 2015. That feeling was doubled when he faced Tetsuya Naito in his opening tournament match. I said TMW vs. Okada was one of my favorite matches of this year. Well, you can add Ibushi vs. Naito to that list. What a match!
All my love for Ibushi came flooding back (sorry Ishii) during his match with Naito. Ibushi is a one-of-a-kind wrestler. The way he moves, the way he sells, the way he takes off his shirt, not to mention the insane moves he hits and bumps he takes in his matches. That second rope piledriver! My word!
But what made the match feel that much more special was Sapporo’s reactions for Ibushi. You could feel, and of course hear, the excitement from the crowd. Having fan favorite Naito in there certainly didn’t hurt either. But I could sense the crowd felt what I felt. That they too had been longing for the return of the real Kota Ibushi.
And boy did we get it! If his matches with Naito, and subsequently Zack Sabre Jr., are anything to go by, the Ibushi I’ve known and loved for many a year is truly back.
I just hope this tournament isn’t the last of it. It’s hard to tell with Ibushi. He’s made it very clear over the past few years that he doesn’t like to be tied down. WWE can vouch for that first hand. And while I appreciate, and even applaud his independence, it seems to be the one thing keeping him down (that and his neck issues).
Careers aren’t always defined by how many titles one has won, or how long reigns last. Ibushi is the perfect example of that. He’s never won a major heavyweight title in New Japan, but he’s easily one of the most over stars in this year’s tournament. It’s no coincidence that the show in Sapporo main evented by Ibushi sold out.
Ibushi could easily be one of NJPW’s biggest stars. When he was a regular there, NJPW never really went all the way with him. He had many high-profile matches and challenged for the top titles, but never really made it to the tippy top. Then he left.
If I were NJPW, I’d be doing whatever I could to keep Ibushi around for good. Ibushi doesn’t need to win the gold. He’s already doing a fine job building his legacy. It sure would be nice, though.