It's Kota Ibushi, and this is great if Konosuke Takeshita follows up on Don Callis' violent promises and beats him with ease when they finally meet.
Those that have only seen the 'Golden Star' in AEW have openly wondered what the fuss was ever all about. His contributions have been kept short or scaled back following lengthy injury and illness layoffs, and it remains to be seen if he can ever perform again at the level he once consistently set. As an important project at present, the newly-christened 'Alpha' should thus decimate Ibushi in a manner not witnessed since Brodie Lee brutalised Cody Rhodes for the TNT Championship in 2020.
Ibushi (with or without Kenny Omega) could get revenge for that down the road, revealing himself to be more recovered that his early appearances have let on. That's for then, but Takeshita is for right now - let the "dream" match become a nightmare.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett
