10 Wrestlers Who Turned Down AEW

2. Kota Ibushi

CM Punk AEW
NJPW

When looking at the absolute best wrestlers in the world right now, current IWGP Heavyweight Champion and IWGP Intercontinental Champion Kota Ibushi is undoubtedly in the conversation.

It's been a long journey for Kota to make it to the top of the NJPW mountain, and many had pondered whether the ridiculously talented grappler could be tempted to join his former Golden Lovers partner Kenny Omega in AEW.

Early 2019 saw Ibushi confirm to Weekly Pro Wrestling that he had indeed had contact with AEW about signing with the company, but that he had ultimately had no interest in joining Tony Khan's promotion.

The reason for Kota shooting down any AEW move came down to the simple fact that he didn't want to move full-time to the United States.

In that same interview, Ibushi did say he'd been open to signing with AEW when he was winding down his career, but that clearly isn't happening any time soon. Of course, the recent opening of the 'forbidden door' certainly throws up the possibility of seeing Kota Ibushi lining up against some of AEW's finest in the not too distant future.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.