Kota Ibushi made headlines in May 2022 when he called out New Japan Pro-Wrestling and claimed NJPW bosses used their power against him.
Ibushi revealed that NJPW talent relations member Kikuchi threatened to end Ibushi’s contract with NJPW due to an appearance at a Just Tap Out show on March 4 that was not approved by Kikuchi.
Taka Michinoku, who runs Just Tap Out, gave his side of what happened with Ibushi (via Super J Cast) and his appearance:
And last March JUST TAP OUT Korakuen Tournament. An unexpected event happened here.
Unusually, I got a message from Ibushi, "What are you doing?" I gave him the usual invite, "Are you coming to Korakuen today?" His reply was "I wonder if I'll see professional wrestling after a long time!" I thought that as usual, he wouldn't come.
But Ibushi really came! It was the first time I saw Ibushi in a long time and he was very healthy and talked a lot.
I wonder if he wanted to vent his pent up issues
We talked so much.
But I had a match in the first match of the show. The show was the JTO Tournament, a 1-day tournament In order to win the tournament, you have to win three matches in a day. Ibushi kept talking until my match was about to begin.
"Well, my match is next, so see you later!" I said
Ibushi stood up with a grin. "bushi! I think you know, but you definitely can't come out!"
Even so, Ibushi followed me to the entrance.
I told him again, "You! Don't you follow me!!" Ibushi kept grinning.
Well, I thought he wouldn't follow me. Then my song started playing and I made my entrance. Ibushi came out following behind me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?
What was he doing!? But I couldn't stop or turn back, so I entered and wrestled my match as usual. For the fans, it was nothing? It might sound like an excuse but because I wrestled like this, I lost in the first round...
I went back to the locker room and whispered, "Why did you come out!!?" But Ibushi said, "It's okay! See you later!" Then he left.
In this day and age, information circulates quickly. I was contacted by concerned parties within an hour. I thought "Oh, I'm fucked." I'm not signed with New Japan Pro-Wrestling but I was in a position where I'd be screwed if I caused a problem.
I'd been brought back for the first time in two years, but I thought I was back out the door in just a few months. From that day, I was contacted by various people for a while and explained the facts.
"Are you coming to Korakuen?" said
But I couldn't even expect him to follow me out. I should have predicted that this could happen with Ibushi. I don't know for sure, but there may have been some things going on with him during that long absence.
In any case, I gave him the opportunity to do what he did. I'm really sorry about that. It just didn't end with this. Ibushi started raging on LINE as if this was the beginning of his meltdown. The stuff he said on there was so shocking that it can't be shared in public. And in the end, he set his sights on me. "You'll be finished too." After that I sent him several messages on LINE but they were never marked read so I guess he blocked me. At the same time, he also stopped following me on Twitter. After that, I didn't have any interaction with him. This is all the interaction with Ibushi that I was involved in.
Fans can read NJPW's statement on Ibushi's actions regarding the JTO show from their press conference in May 2022 by clicking here. NJPW penalized Ibushi and the proper officials for their actions.
Ibushi is currently a free agent after his contract with NJPW expired on February 1. Fans can find NJPW's statement on the matter by clicking here.
