Earlier this week Kota Ibushi returned to the ring for the first time since mid-November, competing in the main event of Pro Wrestling NOAH’s The New Year 2024 against Naomichi Marufuji. Unfortunately, the match quickly went awry as Ibushi reportedly suffered an injury early on but continued to compete for the entire 33-minute contest despite clearly struggling. After the match, Ibushi was hurt so badly that he was unable to stand, falling over just seconds after Marufuji tried to raise his hand in respect due to his ankle seemingly giving out.
It was later reported that Ibushi made his way to the backstage area on his own but was in so much pain that he could not take part in a post-match interview, a tradition of most Japanese promotions. Shortly after, an ambulance was called for him and he was taken to a hospital elsewhere in Tokyo.
Now, Ibushi has broken his silence on his widely criticized performance at the event. In a post to X (translated via Google Translate), the occasional AEW star issued an apology to fans and went on to claim that he had been scammed by a medical facility known as C5 Clinic. It’s unclear at this time if he fell victim to the scam before or after the divisive match.
I was scammed by a place called C5 Clinic, which is spread all over the country, as I mentioned before,” Ibushi wrote. “Take care of yourself, please. I think NOAH will release information about my surgery, fractures and dislocations, etc. I’m sorry for the match, everyone. It’s all my fault.”
Kota Ibushi officially signed with AEW back in November following his victory on the November 15th edition of Dynamite. On that show, he teamed up with his long-time Golden Lovers partner Kenny Omega as well as Chris Jericho, and Paul Wight to take on Brian Cage, Kyle Fletcher, Konosuke Takeshita, and Powerhouse Hobbs. The match was contested under ‘Like A Dragon Street Fight’ rules as a part of a sponsorship deal with SEGA to promote the video game ‘Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name’.