NJPW superstar and current IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental champion Kota Ibushi spoke with the NJPW Press about a variety of subjects, including how he broke down in tears after his triumphs at this year’s WrestleKingdom 15. Highlights are below.
Says he broke down crying after the second night of WrestleKingdom 15:
On the 5th, or I guess it was the small hours of the 6th, 3,4 in the morning, I just randomly burst into tears. It just flooded me, I guess. Not happiness, something else. I just cried my eyes out for about two hours. There was a lot; how tough the matches were, keeping the belts, the fact we were just able to do the two nights in the Dome in the first place. It all caught up to me, all at once.
How he felt when Naito handed him both titles:
It was a real shock. Even I don’t know exactly what he was thinking, what his true motives were, but I think that was something you wouldn’t really understand if you didn’t know the relationship we have, the journey we were on as people watching the same wrestling together growing up.
Feeling the legacy of the belts as soon as he held them:
Like I mentioned, the weight. In every sense of the word. The actual belts are legitimately very heavy, but there’s so much responsibility that comes with that, and so much history as well, when you think of the lineage to the Hashimotos, the Mutos I grew up with. All of that really hit me as soon as I held the titles.
On Jay White:
You can’t argue that he’s a phenomenal wrestler. To be able to wrestle like he does at his age is incredible. Granted, he didn’t go through what I went through those two nights, but you have to give credit where it’s due.