For the time being, talents in New Japan Pro-Wrestling are forced to sit at home and not compete due to the coronavirus. However, promotions such as All Elite Wrestling and WWE continue to run events in empty arenas as both companies want to continue to move forward with their plans.
While many commend both promotions for working under the tense conditions, people like Kota Ibushi believe that wrestling in an empty arena is a waste of time, with the former NEVER Openweight Champion believing that engaging with a live crowd is a big part of the business:
“There’s a lot of different ways of thinking about it, but [in complete honestly,] I’m not a fan of empty arenas,” Ibushi admitted. “There’s, of course, a lot of merit to watching video, and you can get a closer sense of the action in the ring perhaps. The thing is though, I’m not really about showing off what moves I can do. I want to be engaging a live crowd. In that sense, I really don’t see the point of running events if there aren’t going to be any people there.”
As you can imagine, this is a frustrating time for many talents; however, Ibushi continues to train hard to keep himself busy and more importantly, keep himself in shape to easily transition back into the ring:
“I’m a wrestler at the end of the day. I know it’s a good chance to be active in other ways, but for a wrestler not to wrestle is the definition of frustration.” Ibushi says. “I’ve honestly been training so hard it’s been tougher than a lot of matches to be honest. We haven’t had to travel either, so taking that into account, too. I really can’t call this down time at all.”
The New Japan Pro-Wrestling star hopes to come back stronger and challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight title once again. Check out the full NJPW interview where Ibushi talks about his championship match at Wrestle Kingdom 14, suffering an ankle injury during the G1 Climax, and so much more!