Kota Ibushi

He is a former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion; he became the inaugural champion by unifying the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, the company’s previous top title, with the IWGP Intercontinental Championship in March 2021.

His career began with the Dramatic Dream Team (DDT) promotion in 2004 and over the next eleven years became a three-time KO-D Openweight Champion, five-time KO-D Tag Team Champion and a two-time KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Champion. Two of the KO-D Tag Team title reigns was with Kenny Omega as the Golden☆Lovers; their combined total of 351 days is still a DDT record.

In 2009, Ibushi started working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling and eventually signed with the promotion in 2013. In NJPW, Ibushi is a former NEVER Openweight Champion, three-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion and a one-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion. He resigned from both DDT and NJPW in February 2016 and has performed in several different organizations as a freelancer, including both DDT and NJPW as well as WWE, where he participated in the 2016 Cruiserweight Classic tournament.

After continuing to perform as a freelancer for NJPW after 2016 (including as Tiger Mask W, the protagonist of the anime of the same name, from 2016 to 2017), he signed a new full-time contract with NJPW in early 2019, winning the IWGP Heavyweight Championship for the first and only time in his career in 2021 before unifying it with the IWGP Intercontinental Championship to become the inaugural World Heavyweight Champion later that year. Ibushi has also won several tournaments for NJPW, including the 2011 Best of the Super Juniors, the 2015 New Japan Cup and the 2019 and 2020 editions of the G1 Climax, being the only wrestler to have won all three tournaments. He is also one of only three wrestlers to win two consecutive G1 Climax tournaments (after Masahiro Chono and Hiroyoshi Tenzan) as well as the only wrestler to have reached the finals stage of three consecutive G1 Climax tournaments.

Notable Matches: vs. Shinsuke Nakamura at Wrestle Kingdom IX

vs. Tetsuya Natio at Wrestle Kingdom 15

vs. Jay White at Wrestle Kingdom 15

Other Notable Achievements

Chikara Rey de Voladores (2009)

IMGP World Heavyweight Championship

Independent World Junior Heavyweight Championship

Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship (3 times)

KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Gota Ihashi and Kenny Omega (1), and Daisuke Sasaki and Kenny Omega (1)

KO-D Openweight Championship (3 times)

KO-D Tag Team Championship (5 times) – with Daichi Kakimoto (1), Kenny Omega (2), Danshoku Dino (1) and Daisuke Sasaki (1)

Go-1 Climax (2014)

KO-D Openweight Championship Contendership Tournament (2008, 2009)

KO-D Tag League (2005) – with Daichi Kakimoto

DDT48/Dramatic Sousenkyo (2012, 2014)

Best Match Award (2012) vs. Kenny Omega on August 18

UWA World Tag Team Championship – with KAGETORA

Japan Indie Awards: Best Bout Award (2012) vs. Kenny Omega on August 18

Best Bout Award (2014) with Kenny Omega vs. Konosuke Takeshita and Tetsuya Endo on October 28

Kaientai Dojo Tag Team Best Bout K-Award (2007) with Madoka vs. Dick Togo and Taka Michinoku on December 1

KBB Hashtag Championship

Best of the Super Juniors (2011)

New Japan Cup (2015)

Tokyo Sports Best Bout Award (2010) with Kenny Omega vs. Prince Devitt and Ryusuke Taguchi (NJPW, October 11)

Best Bout Award (2013) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (NJPW, August 4)

Technique Award (2009)

Toryumon Mexico Young Dragons Cup (2006)

Dragon Mixture Tournament (2006) – with Daichi Kakimoto, Fuka and Seiya Morohashi