Every Wrestler With 10 Or More Dave Meltzer 5 Star Rated Matches

9. Kota Ibushi - 13 Matches

Will Ospreay
NJPW

Kota Ibushi is another wrestler seemingly born just to make Dave Meltzer happy. A smaller, agile performer who can also match strikes with the best of them and who has a seemingly indestructible neck, Ibushi can get a good match out of anybody. Even a blow-up doll...

This might explain why Ibushi has also notched up 13 perfect or better scores in his time. Despite having his first at 2015's Wrestle Kingdom, it wouldn't be until 2018 when Ibushi hit his stride. He scored five top level ratings that year, including an astonishing 5.75 rating in the final of that year's G1.

Since then, Ibushi has become one of New Japan's most reliable big match performers, be that in the G1 or in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom. His aforementioned skills combined with his extremely affable character make The Golden Star very easy to get invested in and every year he is seemingly able to break out more and more exciting moves in his matches.

Ibushi has fallen off the radar since he lost his IWGP World Heavyweight Championship but rest assured that, when he does get back on track, we're all in for a real treat.

Contributor
Contributor

Jacob Simmons has a great many passions, including rock music, giving acclaimed films three-and-a-half stars, watching random clips from The Simpsons on YouTube at 3am, and writing about himself in the third person.