WWE CWC: 10 Things We Learned From The First Episode
2. Ibushi Once Considered K1
This may or may not have been said within kayfabe, but for the purposes of this argument I’m going to roll with it either way.
Some of the more knowledgeable fans may already have been away of this nugget of Kota Ibushi trivia. And thinking it about it, it makes perfect sense once you’ve seen his in-ring style.
But nonetheless, Daniel Bryan revealed on the show that Kota Ibushi almost signed for the K1 kickboxing promotion at an earlier point in his career. K1 is of course the same promotion in which Brock Lensar competed in his first MMA fight, against Min Soo Kim back in 2007.
So again, whether intended or not, this sprinkling of knowledge played up to that legitimacy angle that they've done such a good job of promoting.
And the fact that it was Bryan who provided this factoid brings me nicely onto my final point…