Figure Four Weekly 8/7/2017: Looking at Kota Ibushi’s G1 reintroduction

As this summer’s G1 Climax begins to wind down for New Japan Pro Wrestling, so does a stretch of matches that has further reminded everyone that Kota Ibushi is one of the absolute best professional wrestlers in the world.

While that isn’t a surprising development, it was a necessary one after Ibushi’s relatively quiet last two years in pro wrestling. He last appeared as himself for NJPW in 2015 before announcing in early 2016 that he would be resigning from both NJPW and DDT due to a herniated disc in his neck.

He continued his career as a free agent from there, including stops in WWE for the Cruiserweight Classic and Dusty Rhodes tag team tournament. But after turning down offers to join the biggest wrestling company in the world on a full-time basis, his freelance work brought him back to NJPW as anime character Tiger Mask W in October of last year.

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