Joey Janela reflects on his bout with Kota Ibushi.
After being out of the ring for nearly two years, Kota Ibushi returned to the squared circle in March 2023, competing in two bouts for GCW. One of those matches took place at Joey Janela's Spring Break 9, as Ibushi took on Janela himself in a near 25 minute match.
The bout was praised by fans, with many saying that Ibushi looked great despite being away from the ring for so long.
While speaking to Fightful Overbooked's Into The Weeds podcast for a new interview, Janela said that he was happy with the match, despite the fact that he thinks anything with his name gets lost due to internet discourse.
"I felt it went awesome. It went awesome besides me needing 12 staples afterwards. That’s been the story of my life, all year. I’m all scarred up now. I feel like anything with my name on it gets lost anyway. I don’t know why that is. I guess it’s because the hate for me on the internet. A lot of people forget how good of a year I’m having, having some of the best Indie matches in the world. I’m wrestling a heavier schedule than any wrestler in the world, that’s including WWE, AEW. I’m traveling three or four times a week. I think it’s just my name. There was a storyline a couple years ago, give me my roses now while I’m alive. I don’t think it’ll happen. I don’t mind anymore, I’m used to it. The match with Kota Ibushi was one of the top matches of the year. I don’t know what he’s done in AEW, I haven’t seen any of that. It was a very cool moment to do that match."
Elsewhere in the interview, Janela joked that he pitched to wrestle The Rock at WrestleMania Hollywood. Fans can learn more here.
Fans can see FIghtful's full interview with Janela linked at the top of this article.
