Even after winning the G1 Climax, Kota Ibushi is still battling an injured ankle.
In an interview with New Japan Pro Wrestling from August that recently was uploaded on its website, Ibushi mentioned how he is currently dealing with an ankle injury that took some time to get used to in the wrestling ring. While competing in the G1 Climax, Ibushi admitted that he had to wrestle a bit differently from his usual style and that it took competing through the whole tournament to get this new style down.
As far as recovery for the ankle is concerned, Ibushi said surgery isn't required but added that he can't really relax during his recovery. Before having to defend his G1 Climax-winning briefcase for the right to wrestle for the IWGP Heavyweight title at Wrestle Kingdom, Ibushi said he will take the Road to Destruction tour to better rehab the injury.
"There isn’t really anything to do but work on rehabbing it. There’s no treatment per se. But I don’t need surgery. It’s a sprained ligament, but there was also some damage done to the bone. Touching the bone hurts, and there’s a ligament underneath there that’s sprained. The ligaments hold the bone in place, so if I relax it, everything just falls apart. You might have seen in the final, my thigh muscles were always bulging; I had to keep it tense the whole time. As of right now, I’m really trying not to move it. I have little jobs to do but no major movement like a match for a couple of weeks so I can focus on getting it better," Ibushi said.
Before heading to the Tokyo Dome, he must defend his G1 Climax briefcase against KENTA at NJPW Destruction in Kagoshima on September 16. The full interview can be read at this link.
