NJPW Rumor Mill: Kota Ibushi set for huge match at Wrestle Kingdom 13

What’s the story?

Wrestle Kingdom 13 is less than two months away and the biggest event in New Japan Pro Wrestling is shaping up to be a memorable night that fans will never forget. According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the company plans to add another huge match to an already stacked card, which involves Kota Ibushi.

In case you didn’t know…

Kota Ibushi has had a strong year in New Japan Pro Wrestling. The former IWGP Jr. Heavyweight champion started off the year by defeating former ROH World Heavyweight champion, Cody, and from there, his streak of hot matches and feuds continued.

Perhaps his most notable performance was during the G1 Climax tournament where Ibushi finished with a record of 6 wins and 3 losses. He advanced to the finals due to a victory in his final block against IWGP Heavyweight champion, Kenny Omega, which was a match highly praised by fans and critics.

Ibushi became the first wrestler to advance to the finals of the New Japan Cup, Best of the Super Juniors, and G1 Climax tournament. Despite an excellent showing, Ibushi lost to Hiroshi Tanahashi in the final.

Speculation was that Ibushi was pencilled in to win the G1 Climax and go on to face Kenny Omega in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 13, but Ibushi was reportedly not signed to New Japan during that time and the company didn’t want to risk their Wrestle Kingdom 13 main event on a wrestler who wasn’t planning to be there long-term.

Kota Ibushi has stated in the past that he doesn’t want to sign with a company exclusively, which is his reasoning on why he didn’t sign with NXT back in 2016.

The heart of the matter

Despite not being in the main event, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that Kota Ibushi is set to take on Will Ospreay for the NEVER Openweight championship.

What’s next?

Ibushi will be facing Hirooki Goto for the NEVER Openweight championship at the NJPW World Tag League finals on December 9th.

Prowrestling.com states that the original plan was for Ospreay to defeat Taichi for the NEVER Openweight title and then go on to defend against Ibushi at Wrestle Kingdom 13. However, Ospreay took time off to heal from his injuries and the decision was made to put the title back on Goto instead.

The plan as of now is that Ibushi will defeat Goto for the Openweight championship and then face Ospreay in a huge one on one singles match. Of course, plans can always change and this remains a speculation for now.