After winning the G1 Climax tournament in 2019, Kota Ibushi seemed destined to have a major moment in the Tokyo Dome on January 4. However, the big winner once the smoke was cleared at the Tokyo Dome was Tetsuya Naito, and that doesn't exactly sit well with Ibushi.
This year, NJPW presented a two-night Wrestle Kingdom spectacular which was highlighted by the Double Gold Dash. This means that whoever was the IWGP World champion at the end of night one, would face the IWGP Intercontinental Champion on night two.
Speaking with the official website of New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Kota would verbally bash Tetsuya Naito for entering the Double Gold Dash with nothing at stake and have some very choice descriptors for the current incumbent champion in NJPW.
“Naito... wasn't fair,” Kota began. “Of all four of us in that situation, he was the only one who didn’t put anything on the line. But he was the one who ended up winning it all. After he won, how could you think Naito was anything other than a sneaky bastard? Look, I almost hit rock bottom last year. I was injured in the first G1 match and was at my absolute physical limit before I came back and won the tournament, right? And because of that, I was in the main events almost every night on the road until the Dome. Now, I was the one to propose being in both main events. I have to take responsibility for that. But you have to say that after all was said and done, the one left hurting the most after Wrestle Kingdom was me. Now, I know Naito was the first person to suggest being a double champion. But he wasn’t bringing anything to the table. That just made me think ‘nahh’. I went from nahh, to ‘huh?’ to ‘Whaaat???’ (laughs). Just ‘how is this allowed?’ kind of thing. After all that I’d put in. ”
Kota Ibushi also spoke in the interview about desiring to take the Tag Team Championships to a level where they can main event in the Tokyo Dome. Learn more about that at this link.
