Kota Ibushi Diagnosed With Aspiration Pneumonia

Published: Jul 21, 2021 by Connel Rumsey | Last Updated: Jul 21, 2021 by Connel Rumsey

Connel has over five years of wrestling journalism experience writing about some of the biggest stories from across the wrestling world. Being a fan for 20 years, Connel has an expansive knowledge from a wide range of various wrestling promotions, including WWE, AEW, NJPW, TNA and Joshi.

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Kota Ibushi Diagnosed With Aspiration Pneumonia

Former IWGP World Champion Kota Ibushi has been diagnosed with aspiration pneumonia, and will miss more upcoming New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) events, the company announced today (July 21).

Ibushi had been out of action due to side effects from his COVID-19 vaccination recently, but NJPW has since put out a statement saying that Ibushi’s illness is not as a result of COVID-19 vaccination.

The statement reads:

Kota Ibushi has been out of competition since the beginning of the Summer Struggle series due to illness. After careful investigation and thorough assessment, he has been diagnosed with aspiration pneumonia.

Ibushi’s illness was originally reported as a result of side effects arising from his COVID-19 vaccination. Aspiration pneumonia has no connection to COVID vaccinations, and Ibushi’s illness is not a result of his inoculation. We apologise for any misunderstanding. Ibushi has also tested negative for COVID-19.

In order to give Ibushi more time to make a full in ring recovery, he will be absent from cards on July 22 and 23 in Osaka, as well as July 24 in Nagoya. A final decision on his participation at Wrestle Grand Slam on July 25 will be made after assessing Ibushi’s recovery.

As a result changes will be made to the cards in Osaka and Nagoya as outlined below. We apologise to fans who were looking forward to seeing Ibushi wrestle.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling deeply apologises for the concern and inconvenience caused by this news. We appreciate your understanding, and hope you join us in wishing Ibushi the very best in his recovery.

July 22, Osaka 4th Match, July 23 Osaka 4th Match, July 25 Nagoya 4th Match

Everyone at WrestleTalk wishes Ibushi a full and complete recovery.

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