Wrestling IS Performance Art: Deal With It

Ibushi entered the match with a badly weakened ankle. White focused his relentless assault on it throughout. Ibushi sold it with an agonised pathos. White cut off every hopeless, brave comeback with perfectly-timed viciousness. Time and time again, using merciless heel tactics, White eviscerated all hope with a d*ckhead smile.

Not a godd*mn soul in that sold-out Budokan Hall gave one iota of a f*ck that Ibushi once wrestled an inflatable doll. Everybody in that molten crowd created a deafening cacophony when he transformed, seamlessly, from injured hero to unbeatable warrior in his awesome fighting spirit spot. This was as pure a distillation of suspension of disbelief as you’ll ever see. Worked into this state by two masters under the most classic of dynamics, the entire crowd powered this ultra-badass comeback as if it were all real. And this match, unlike some of Ibushi’s more divisive work, wasn’t too real. Ibushi, the wrestler, is arguably too committed. This was Ibushi, the worker, revealing himself as a true genius of the old form.

Next-level aerialist Kota Ibushi didn’t do one “flip” in that match because he was too busy convincing the Budokan that his ankle would not allow him to. When he finally overcame that weasel heel, people cried, gripped in the drama of the moment. If the talent is great enough, the old magic still works.

CONT'D...(4 of 5)