Kota Ibushi became a free agent at midnight February 1 Tokyo time, and is now free to work anywhere he wants. Those that we've spoken to say that there's major interest from a number of companies, with that varying from wanting him to sign full-time deals or even getting one-off appearances. Contacts in each major company are of the belief that Ibushi would want to remain a freelancer. Sources close to him said that he was very happy doing that before signing with NJPW, and New Japan was a "live and learn" situation. Ibushi has not confirmed that himself.
The New Japan situation devolved not just because of him being asked to wrestle with an injured shoulder. We're told that there was a "significant private matter" that Ibushi was dealing with that we won't pry into, but that NJPW also wanted him to work through that didn't seem to help the relationship.
Ibushi is confirmed for several GCW shows during WrestleMania week, which have been in the works since earlier this month. We're told the plan is for him to work a big main event at Spring Break with Joey Janela.
We have reached out to Ibushi directly, and hope to speak with him soon.
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