Kota Ibushi

[Grimmas]

Discuss here.

[W2BTD]

My favorite type of Ibushi match is as a feisty underdog junior facing a bully heavyweight. It brings out the best in him, and forces him to work a more complete style. Exhibit A is the Shinsuke Nakamura match from the 2013 G1, which was an incredible masterpiece that would have been my match of the year in a normal year that didn't feature so much great, great stuff. It almost was my pick anyway.

 

He has mountains of great stuff, and he probably hasn't hit his prime yet. The El Generico trilogy from DDT in 2012 was amazing work from both men. This year in New Japan he has the Ricochet match from Dominion, and the Ishii match from Yokohama, plus the Okada return match, which was a follow up to the 2013 match they had at Sumo Hall in DDT. All great matches. The tag match from two weeks ago w/Kenny Omega vs Endo & Takeshita is a MOTY contender.

 

The breakout of course was the 2007 NOAH NTV Cup junior tag league final, Ibushi & Marufuji vs KENTA & Ishimori. To me, this is one of the best tag matches I have ever seen, and this was from he period where Ibushi was still very raw and basically having the same singles match everywhere he went.

 

Super excited to see where his career goes as a heavyweight, as I think he will ultimately be Okada's prime *and best) rival, as opposed to Naito. This guy has an incredible resume already, and I think the best is probably still in front of him. A lock to make my list, and a potential Top 20 guy when all is said & done.

[Graham Crackers]

I can't say I'm very familiar with Ibushi as I've never watched DDT and Ive only seen the most highly touted New Japan matches of the last 3 years or so. I'm aware that he has been divisive among some fans. What I do know is that his match against Koji Kanemoto from the 2009 BOSJ is one of the best New Japan Junior matches of the last ten years.

 

Does Kanemoto have a thread yet?

[Alan4L]

A mercurial talent who has been producing incredible matches on a yearly basis for the last seven years.

 

I'm with Joe on the point that he's at his best when he's taking on a bigger heavyweight. Those matches go to the highest level more often that his junior matches. On talent and ability alone he'd crack my top 100, but when you add in his insane output of great matches over the years then he goes to a high high level.

 

some picks other than the ones Joe mentioned:

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xeul77_ddt-dramatic-fantasia-273-ddt-ko-d_sport

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x136q31_kota-ibushi-vs-minoru-suzuki-njpw_sport

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x695i0_kota-ibushi-masaaki-mochizuki-vs-mu_sport

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xvo0zc_ddt-kota-ibushi-vs-taiji-ishimori_sport

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x25ex19_prince-devitt-vs-low-ki-vs-kota-ibushi-njpw-wrestle-kingdom-7-evolution_shortfilms

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xkn37d_kota-ibushi-vs-prince-devitt_sport

 

[W2BTD]

That Chikara four way is one of my favorite matches. Insane display of athleticism & timing from all four guys. So much fun.

[Alan4L]

That Chikara four way is one of my favorite matches. Insane display of athleticism & timing from all four guys. So much fun.

it's hard to put into words how revolutionary that match was at the time. It blew people's minds.

[W2BTD]

Felt like this deserved a bump since Ibushi, who was probably a lock for more than a few lists already, was probably the best wrestler in the world over the first quarter of 2015 and will be a strong wrestler of the year candidate if he finishes the year as strong as he started it.

 

Add the Nakamura WK9 match, the Honma bout, the AJ title challenge, and the two HARASHIMA matches from DDT to the list of high level bouts he's had since the last time anybody posted here.

[Jaivl]

it's hard to put into words how revolutionary that match was at the time. It blew people's minds.

 

It definitely blew mine. But not for good reasons.

[GOTNW]

Ibushi has won me over recently but I won't consider him. I don't care for flip wrestling much and he wasn't any good at it. He's improved a lot since transitioning into the heavyweight division but there isn't much depth to his body of work.

[Jimmy Redman]

Ibushi is a guy I have a lot of time for, he's cute and I'm always happy to watch him and that translates really well into being a great, effective pretty boy face. The key is that he can maintain that during the match and really deliver in the ring as well. He has tremendous babyface fire and knows how to maximise it for effect, he is amazing at getting the absolute shit beat out of him, and also has a vast array of awesome, exciting spots that you want a guy like Ibushi to have.

 

That CHIKARA four-way might be my favourite ever indy match. Just the most insane, heart-stopping spotfest ever, I love it, and Ibushi was the key guy in that. The Nakamura matches are great, particularly the WK one. And this is out of left field, but I cannot explain how much I love his singles match with YOSHIHIKO.

 

I don't think he has enough meat, as they say, to get a place on my list, which is a shame.

[GOTNW]

If you like junior Ibushi he has more than enough stuff to warrant a vote. I imagine a lot of it has disappeared from the interwebs though. He's got three matches vs Generico in DDT, the Budokan Omega match, some Golden Lovers tags etc.

[Boss Rock]

Another NJPW wrestler who has a strong chance to make my top 50. I think the 2019 Bad Luck Fale G1 match is the only bad Ibushi match I've ever seen and that's because Fale has sucked more than usual in recent years. He's arguably been a top 10 wrestler since his return to NJPW in 2017 and you could make the case he was before as well. He's always been a really good tournament wrestler whether it be BOSJ, G1, or the Cruiserweight Classic. The Cruiserweight Classic in particular stands out as he faced a wider variety of wrestlers and had the best run of the tournament.

An underrated aspect of Ibushi's game is how his style has evolved over the years. He still does high-flying and a lot of the same moves, but since moving up to heavyweight he's done a great job adding strikes and power moves to his game. He can be a terrific underdog face as well as a believable tough guy. It got to a point where he believably beat Suzuki at his own game in last year's G1. The only criticisms I can really think of are, like his former tag partner Kenny, a tendency to ignore leg selling and occasionally being too go-go-go.

I'd like to see more of his early stuff in DDT, but most of what I've seen has been really good.

[Makai Club #1]

For those who are thinking about Kota Ibushi, here are some of his DDT great matches. Obviously the bolded ones are the most highly recommended: 

Quote

- HARASHIMA vs Kota Ibushi  - DDT Ryogoku Peter Pan 2009 - 23/8/2009

- Kenny Omega vs. Kota Ibushi - DDT Nippon Budokan Peter Pan 2012 ~ DDT 15th Anniversary - 18/8/2012
- Kota Ibushi vs. El Generico - DDT Who's Gonna Top? 2012 ~ DDT48 General Election Last Day    30/9/2012
- Kota Ibushi vs. El Generico - DDT DDT Special 2012 - 21/10/2012

- Yankee Two Kenju (Isami Kodaka & Yuko Miyamoto) vs. Golden Lovers (Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi) - DDT God Bless DDT 2013 - 17/11/2013

- Yankee Two Kenju (Isami Kodaka & Yuko Miyamoto) vs. Golden Lovers (Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi) vs. Konosuke Takeshita & Tetsuya Endo - DDT Sweet Dreams 2014 - 26/1/2014
- Golden Lovers (Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi) vs. Happy Motel (Konosuke Takeshita & Tetsuya Endo) - DDT Dramatic General Election 2014 Final Voting Day - Last Hope Special - 28/9/2014
- Danshoku Dino & Konosuke Takeshita vs. Golden Lovers (Kenny Omega & Kota Ibushi) - DDT Special 2014 - 26/10/2014

I think very highly of Kota Ibushi. I think once Okada started to down tools more often post 2018, he turned into the best wrestler in the company by a big mile and Ibushi wasn't that far off the top spot anyway. He started out as a bit of a spectacle wrestler in DDT, doing many of their wacky gimmick matches on top of the straight matches and eventually became a big enough star to help DDT run Ryogoku and started doing New Japan. He was really good in New Japan and DDT, easily capable of great matches such as the Okada Anniversary match, the Omega Budokan Hall match and plenty smaller matches that you can easily find if you want that period enough. And then once he teased going to WWE and had that incredible run in the CWC, he went back to New Japan and turned into one of the best in the world imo. His flaws are his selling when it comes to someone attacking his knees as his offence is strike and aerial based. But, and this might just be me, I think it actually works for him. Ibushi is a self-trained (apparently) enigma who looks and thinks himself to be a mythical figure. That's a rare breed of confidence or delusion. Whatever you want to call it. 

I recently drew up a draft of a top 50 and he made it without me even thinking about it. It just seemed right. He's one of the modern candidates that should do better this time around. 

[mjp7798]

I really don't know how to define Ibushi in my head.  On one hand, he's had matches/moments in matches that I just get my head around but hes also had some of the strongest matches in modern New Japan and of the 2010s. Striking Ibushi is a million miles stronger than the flier yet I do find myself getting tired of the "Ibushi gets pissed" big match formula.  I dont know. I love him/get annoyed at him at the same time.