After the first night of Wrestle Kingdom 15 NJPW’s Kota Ibushi has become an IWGP double champion.
Ibushi took on his long-time rival, Tetsuya Naito, to come out victorious after a highly contested and hellacious match. After the win Ibushi not only has a victory over his rival, but now has two championships. Ibushi is now the proud owner of the IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental Championships.
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Ibushi has been a power player in NJPW for years now, but has not quite broken through. A top performer in not just in NJPW but all over the world. You may have seen him in the WWE Cruiserweight Classic where he made it to the semi-finals only to lose to the man who won the tournament, T.J. Perkins.
Like The Entire World 2020 Has Been Full Of Ups And Downs For NJPW’s Ibushi
His time in NJPW hasn’t been much more successful. After winning the G1 Climax Ibushi found himself facing none other than The Rainmaker himself Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. This was believed by many fans to be the night Ibushi took over NJPW. However, after a tough match Ibushi came out on the losing end. Just to make things worse Ibushi lost to Jay White on night two of Wrestle Kingdom 14 placing last in the Double Gold Dash.
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However, the end of 2020 is the year things started to turn around for Ibushi. He became a back-to-back G1 Climax winner. Even though he wasn’t able to take on Naito for the championship after he lost the contract to White he didn’t fret. However, Naito wasn’t going to let his rival set pretty on the sidelines. Naito wanted to take on Ibushi and slap that smug look off his face so badly he decided to pull double duty.
Ibushi overcame Naito to become the double champion, but what toll has the match taken on his body? The match was one of the most brutal matches Ibushi has ever been in with Naito being no joke. Night two of Wrestle Kingdom 15 will see Ibushi defend his championships against the man who beat him at last year’s Wrestle Kingdom. Is 24 hours enough rest to take on White? Or will Ibushi’s reign as champion be a very short one?
What do you think of Ibushi? Is 2021 the year of Ibushi? Do you think Ibushi can defeat White in what will surely be a match just as tenacious as Ibushi’s match with Naito? Be a Golden Star and drop a few comments below.
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Source: ProWrestling
