Kota Ibushi debuted on last nights AEW Dynamite, being officially announced as the fifth member of “team Elite”.
Kota Ibushi is set to debut in AEW as part of the upcoming Blood & Guts match, multiple sources have indicated.
According to both Fightful Select and Dave Metlzer, Ibushi has been in contact with AEW over signing a contract with the company.
The Elite are set to take on the Blackpool Combat Club at the upcoming Blood & Guts event, with both sides looking for one more wrestler to join them.
The Blackpool Combat Club are rumored to be recruiting Chris Hero for a return to the ring, reuniting with Claudio Castagnoli as the Kings of Wrestling tag team.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer was the first to report Kota Ibushi joining AEW – something that has been anticipated by fans for the past four years.
Speaking on the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Radio:
“The Elite team has one more member to pick,” Meltzer said “It’s interesting because Kenny Omega did a promo tonight, off the air, so it was only for the people in Edmonton. It wasn’t even taped for ‘Rampage.’ It’s after ‘Rampage’ is over actually.
“And he does this promo and he all but says — well, he tells the story that we all expected, but this is not on TV. That how when he went away that week and he wasn’t there, he did not go to Canada, but he was out of the country. He didn’t say where he was going.
“He went back to see an old friend and kind of talked about that. And the whole place is chanting [for] Kota Ibushi, and he certainly didn’t deny it, so it looks like Kota Ibushi’s gonna be [on] that show in Boston.”
Meanwhile, this information was corroborated by Fightful Select, who reported that Kota Ibushi.
According to their latest report, conversations have taken place between Kota Ibushi & AEW.
Talent spoken with fully believe he’d be joining AEW in some capacity, specifically for the upcoming Blood & Guts.
A source close to Ibushi in Japan said he’s planning to work the upcoming AEW show. He is likely to reunite with Kenny Omega to reform the Golden Lovers tag team, one of the best tag teams of all time.
Fightful has confirmed that conversations have taken place between international star Kota Ibushi and All Elite Wrestling. Most of the talent we spoke to this week are of the belief that he would be joining the company in some capacity, specifically for the upcoming Blood & Guts show. AEW hasn’t made an official announcement and he’s not been nearly as public of.
There were some talent that worked both NJPW and AEW who wondered in the past if Ibushi being involved with AEW would strain the relationship with NJPW. Ibushi and New Japan had a series of issues that led to his departure, however, Ibushi claimed that those have since been resolved, and a contract offer from New Japan has been made.
Fightful Select on Kota Ibushi signing for AEW
This would be Kota Ibushi’s debut in AEW, although he has been teased numerous times in various matches.
Will Ospreay hit Omega with the Kamigoye (Ibushi’s finishing move) during their six-star match at Forbidden Door.
The Young Bucks also used the Golden Lovers finisher (the Golden Trigger) on Omega at AEW Revolution 2020. Both moves prompted Kenny Omega to kick out at one, to a huge pop from the live crowd.
Would you like to see Kota Ibushi debut in AEW? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.