As the first night of Wrestle Kingdom 15 drew to a close, one man stood victorious as both the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Dual Champion, that man was none other than Kota Ibushi. The winner of two consecutive G1 Climax tournaments dethroned Tetsuya Naito in the show’s main event, culminating a two-year long road to the top of the mountain.
Ibushi delivered one heck of a barn-burner alongside Naito, which came as a shock to nobody in the NJPW fanbase. After three devastating Kamigoyes to the L.I.J leader, Kota was finally able to keep his opponent down for the three count and finally win the big one in New Japan Pro Wrestling.
‘The Golden Star’ will defend his titles in the main event of tomorrow’s Wrestle Kingdom show, putting it all on the line against ‘Switchblade’ Jay White to conclude their longstanding feud. It would be a shame to see Kota drop the titles so soon after finally winning them, but Jay White has never looked stronger as he heads into his first Wrestle Kingdom main event.
Kota Ibushi showing us what 2021 needs to be. pic.twitter.com/pqJYmb6AD7 #NJWK15
— Scott Fishman (@smFISHMAN) January 4, 2021
Elsewhere on the card, Kazuchika Okada defeated ‘The Commonwealth Kingpin’ Will Ospreay in a non-title grudge match, G.O.D reclaimed their IWGP Tag titles from Dangerous Tekkers and Jon Moxley returned via pre-recorded promo package to confirm his intentions to return and defend his IWGP US Championship.
A huge night for NJPW, and certainly a major keynote in the career of Kota Ibushi.
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