Kota Ibushi has made his in-ring return after being sidelined with an ankle injury. He went down with the injury this past January when Pro Wrestling NOAH held its New Year 2024 show. It headlined the event as he battled Naomichi Marufuji.
The match had some rough-looking spots in the bout to the point that Kota later apologized for his performance, as Ibushi was believed to have suffered injuries to both of his ankles early in the match.
Once the match was over, he was taken to the hospital for further evaluation and later announced he would be getting surgery. Ibushi was expected to be out of action for six to 12 months.
Kota departed from New Japan Pro Wrestling in 2023 before going to AEW, where he signed with the promotion. He hasn’t wrestled for AEW since WrestleDream in October.
On Sunday morning, Kota returned to DDT after seven years, where he wrestled a full match against Sanshiro Takagi. He did previously do a 5-minute exhibition match earlier this month, where he went to a time-limit draw with Daisuke Sekimoto at a Gleat event.
Kota Ibushi has returned to DDT tonight after 7 long years. The Golden Star is back ⭐️ pic.twitter.com/RQNfpxlDvU
— Dark Puroresu Flowsion (@PuroresuFlow) July 21, 2024
Takagi & Dino long tenured DDT wrestlers breaking down into tears after seeing Kota Ibushi return home tonight 🥹 pic.twitter.com/UQQGDE9ytw
— Dark Puroresu Flowsion (@PuroresuFlow) July 21, 2024
