10 Things You Didn't Know About Kota Ibushi
4. He Was A Proven Draw In New Japan
The MMA boom in Japan seriously hurt pro wrestling, and even after groups like PRIDE had passed their own peaks of popularity, wrestling was still hurting. The sport bottomed out in the mid-to-late 2000s, eventually coming out of the hole thanks largely to the efforts of Hiroshi Tanahashi as New Japan's ace. Tanahashi's victory over The Great Muta at Wrestle Kingdom 3 made him a superstar and cemented him as Japanese wrestling's top dog.
New Japan's business continued to grow with Tanahashi on top, but even as the league has become more popular in the English-speaking world in recent years, it's cooled off a bit at home. Several shows in 2015 weren't as successful as their 2014 counterparts, and events at company strongholds Korakuen Hall and Ryogoku Kokugikan saw slower ticket sales than in months past.
One exception to that trend came when shows - like Invasion Attack 2015 - were headlined by Kota Ibushi. As detailed in The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the rising star was having a measurably-positive effect on New Japan's gates, bringing over a more evenly-gendered fanbase from DDT. It's not often that better business can be tied to specific wrestlers, but Ibushi is a rare talent.