Kota Ibushi addresses critics of AEW Blood & Guts performance

Kota Ibushi has revealed why he was "moving like an old man" during the Blood & Guts match on Dynamite last week. 

The double-cage match was just Ibushi's third match since 2021, after having wrestled two matches for GCW over WrestleMania weekend this year. Some have been critical of his performance in his AEW debut, stating the 41-year-old was moving a little sluggish during the match. 

Ibushi noted in a social media post on Tuesday that the thumbtacks scattered across the mat during Blood & Guts ended up negatively impacting his performance. 

A translation of Ibushi's Tweet reads:

I'm home It's my fault that I didn't know thumbtacks and glass after all this time. I have thin wrestling shoes, so it penetrated and it was just painful from the middle, and I ended up moving like an old man. I'm sorry! Far from being unable to kick, both ankles were stiff

Life with a cane for the first time in my life No, I'll be cured tomorrow! That is Kota Ibushi!

Ibushi was voted to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame Class of 2022. His Wrestle Kingdom match against Shinsuke Nakamura won Match of the Year in 2015. Ibushi was also voted the Best Flying Wrestler in 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2013.

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