Part I: An Initial Cinderella Story

Part II: A Dragon's Rise To Stardom

WrestleDynasty 2021

Coming off his victory over Kota Ibushi in the G1 Climax, Jon Moxley gets set to go toe-to-toe against one of the very best, The Golden Star Kota Ibushi. In his first attempt at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, he pulls a highly stellar performance, taking it to the champion, he comes quite close to reaching the pinnacle of New Japan, but that's clearly easier-said-than-done. It all came to head, when Moxley attempted for the finishing touches, the always devastating, Death Rider, but instead Ibushi was able to counter, and finish the job. He began to work down his challenger, hoping to ease the aggressiveness aswell, a V-Trigger/Kamigoye combo did just that, as he was able to retain the richest prize in all of Japan within 25 minutes of a physically intense battle between the two, as he finally gets his win-back from the G1 Climax 31 loss.

Kota Ibushi (c) def. Jon Moxley to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship (25:02)

King Of Pro Wrestling 2021

Coming off of his G1 Climax victory, Will Ospreay can't feel much better than this, especially considering his New Japan Cup Finals loss earlier this year, which is what made for such an epic clash on this October evening! It went surprisingly even longer than the WrestleDynasty headliner, and was possibly even more physically tasking, as Ospreay didn't want to let his dreams of becoming a top-player here in NJPW go to waste, or his first World Championship go to it either. Both men looked incredible, even if the incredible back-and-forth action created a wildly intense atmosphere, but that's truly what made this match quite thrilling. It all came to a close when an attempted Oscutter was caught in mid-air by Kota, and ultimately led to a V-Trigger being met with Ospreay's head, turning him inside-out, and putting him into an unconscious state. With the match ultimately hitting it's conclusion when Ibushi retained due to a nasty Kamigoye!

Kota Ibushi (c) def. Will Ospreay to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship (31:23)

Power Struggle 2021

Kota Ibushi unfortunately lost to three men in his run of the G1 Climax Tournament this year, which means three defenses on the road to WrestleKingdom 16. Ibushi has been able to topple two of those challenges, but his third one may be his toughest challenge to date, that being NJC 2020 USA Winner, KENTA! This was highly physical, with the two men not wanting to give up, or walk away empty-handed. But unfortunately for both of them, one had to walk away without the gold, but luckily for the other, they will walk into the Tokyo Dome, not only with the richest prize in New Japan, but also a guaranteed Main Event aswell! Them both knowing that, it showed time-and-time again, which why any minor mistake could lead to their dreams ultimately being shattered, a prime example of that was when KENTA attempted for a fatal Go-To-Sleep, but Ibushi was able to counter it, and ended KENTA's dreams of becoming the franchise of the company, with a Kamigoye right to the bridge of the nose!

Kota Ibushi def. KENTA to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship (24:00)

WrestleKingdom 16

We have finally made it, the grandest show here in New Japan Pro Wrestling, as it is Kota Ibushi defending his IWGP Heavyweight Championship against the G1 Climax victor, with that being The Switchblade, Jay White! He was completely devastated by last year's loss, and after an entire calendar year of fighting back to getting here, he is indeed here, and against the same man who crushed all of his dreams all of those months ago. It was a different Jay White, but it wasn't the same champion either, they knew eachother quite well by now though, and that led to this being such a competitive encounter. The two went back-and-forth with eachother, knowing that anything can happen, but eventually being kept on high-alert wasn't enough, as some assisted help from his Bullet Club bois led to a Bladerunner being hit for the victory!

Jay White def. Kota Ibushi to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship (40:00)