10 Fascinating Facts About 2019's 5-Star Matches
7. A "Golden" Year For Ibushi
There's no doubt about it - Kota Ibushi is in his prime right now.
While he has always been a top-rate talent, he has stepped things up considerably over the last two years, wrestling five 5-star matches in 2018 and three in 2019. What makes 2019 so remarkable for Ibushi, though, is the fact that he did not lose a single one of his 5-star bouts.
He beat Will Ospreay in a masterclass of fast-paced workrate at the G1 Climax in July, toppled IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada in a "this couldn't-possibly-be-bad" match in August, and then bested Jay White just *two days later* to win the G1 Climax in a genuine Match of the Year candidate. Imagine that - going more than 25 minutes with arguably the best pro-wrestler in the world today, then having a higher-rated *and* longer match with one of wrestling's top heels just 48 hours later.
Not only is this a testament to Ibushi's athleticism, it also underlines his toughness, because nobody in the business takes riskier bumps than he does (seriously, just watch this horrific bump he took against Tetsuya Naito). Hopefully, his less-than-cautionary approach to wrestling does not shorten his career, as most of us would love to see him putting on more stellar performances for many more years to come.