Kota Ibushi finally breaks silence following blockbuster AEW Blood & Guts announcement

Former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kota Ibushi was announced as the fifth member of The Elite's team for the upcoming Blood & Guts match on July 19th, and the man has finally broken his silence.

Following the shocking return of PAC, who was revealed to be the fifth man on The Blackpool Combat Club's team, Kenny Omega told The BCC to look at the titantron, which played a video confirming Ibushi as the final entrant in the third-annual 'Blood & Guts' match.

The pro wrestling world is still buzzing about the announcement, and it seems like the man himself is excited to reunite with Kenny Omega and The Elite as Kota Ibushi took to Twitter to say:

"Kept you waiting huh. I've been watching AEW this whole time. Kenny, your 5th man is...the Golden Elite's Kota Ibushi!! Sorry I'm late Page, Bucks, Kenny. Next week I'll be there!! Kota Ibushi is finally back at full strength so shall we change the world together? Let's go!!" tweeted Ibushi.

The Golden Star competed in the All In PPV in 2018 before AEW was born. So fans wanted Kota to make his way to AEW following his NJPW departure in January, with Ibushi even confirming that he would be open to joining either AEW or WWE on a full-time basis. However, he has stated that he wants to set up his wrestling school in Japan before he commits to anything.

Kota Ibushi has had his eye on one of the opposition for quite some time

While the announcement of Ibushi's debut might have been a long time coming, he has been keeping a close eye on the product. He knows what has happened over the past few months between The Elite and The Blackpool Combat Club.

One person that Ibushi has taken an interest in is The BCC's ally Konosuke Takeshita, a man who has had a similar history to Kota as he also made a name for himself in the DDT promotion in Japan.

Kota was asked by Dark Puroresu Flowsion in May 2023 what he thought of Takeshita, and he didn't have many nice things to say. Ibushi stated that Takeshita never respected him.

The two men have crossed paths numerous times during their time in DDT, where they have been both opponents and tag team partners. However, Konosuke has never defeated Kota in a one-on-one contest.

Are you excited to see Kota Ibushi in AEW? Let us know in the comments section below.