Injury Update On AEW's Kota Ibushi

Having been out of action since January, the Golden Star has provided an injury update.

by Andrew Pollard
Kota Ibushi
AEW

Having been out of action since the turn of the year, AEW's Kota Ibushi has now provided somewhat of an update.

Responding to a fan on X who asked if Ibushi will be returning to AEW soon to avenge Kenny Omega, the Golden Star indicated how he's currently 85% recovered.

Ibushi last wrestled on 2 January at NOAH The New Year, where he severely injured both ankles in a match against Noamichi Marufuji. While Kota would finish - and win - that match, he was immediately rushed to hospital afterwards.

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In terms of AEW, Kota Ibushi last wrestled for Tony Khan's promotion in an eight-man street fight back on the 15 November edition of Dynamite. Ibushi made his AEW debut in July 2023 before formally signing with the company in the aftermath of that November Dynamite war.

The past few years have been some rough ones for Kota, with various injuries forcing him to sit out the entirety of 2023, and he also butted heads with New Japan Pro-Wrestling officials before his contract with NJPW expired in February of last year. He would return to the ring the following month for Bloodsport and GCW, which would be his first matches for nearly 18 months. To date, Kota has wrestled just five matches for AEW, although it appears it hopefully won't be too long before the hugely talented 42-year-old is cleared and ready for action.

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Senior Writer
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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.