10 Terrifying Wrestling Moments That Still Scare Adults

1. Kota Ibushi Becomes 'Murderboi'

Ultimate Warrior Halloween
NJPW

Kota Ibushi is a phenomenal professional wrestler who fuses spectacular aerials and a frightening striking legitimacy to get over as basically the best version of every top-tier New Japan talent.

He is incredible artist, but he's also a deeply erratic individual. This is mostly endearing.

Ibushi can't navigate airports. He doesn't trust books because they make him imagine things. Fishing "pisses him off" because "When you get a fish, what happens then?" Ibushi asked KUSHIDA on a 2017 podcast.

Is it...is it possible that Kota Ibushi doesn't know what a fish looks like before it is served to him on a plate?

Ibushi's inscrutable mind further informs his new, massively unsettling (but also awesome) sequence. Affectionately known as "Murderboi", something awful appears to take over. He stops. He becomes impervious to pain and indeed any sensory trigger. He lashes out violently, cracking his opponent flush in the face, with a sickening impact, all while no discernible emotion emerges from his own. It's a tremendous spot because it's a completely random act of cruelty all the more terrifying for how irreconcilable it is. And it's terrifying because Ibushi is so enigmatic.

What if he gets stuck in that puzzle he calls a mind?

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!