NJPW's Kota Ibushi Dealing With Foot Injury

Kota Ibushi's reign as IWGP World Heavyweight Champion shockingly came to an end over the weekend at Sakura Genesis. The Golden Star defended the gold against Will Ospreay and the champion was pinned following a Stormbreaker at the 30-minute mark. Ibushi was then laid out by Jeff Cobb after the match and he had to be helped to the back by New Japan's medical personnel.

Ibushi looks set for a spell on the sidelines as he is only scheduled to be in action once before May 4. He is booked to team with Hiroshi Tanahashi against The United Empire's Jeff Cobb and Aaron Henare at Wrestling Satsuma no Kuni on April 29.

According to Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer, this is because the former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion is currently dealing with a foot injury and NJPW has decided to give him some time off.

Meltzer said: "That is the only match in the next at least six weeks that Ibushi is working. They're giving him a rest. Which may also be why they took the title off of him because he's got the foot injury."