Kota Ibushi Confirms He Signed A Deal with AEW, Can Work Elsewhere

In an interview on his Youtube channel (via Fightful), Kota Ibushi confirmed that he signed a deal with AEW but noted he can appear for other promotions. This is similar to many AEW deals, as even their biggest stars like Jon Moxley and Chris Jericho can and have appeared for other independent companies. Ibushi said he signed his contract the day of Blood & Guts.

He said: “I signed the contract. In a manner of speaking, yes. But during the discussion, they asked me how we could come to a deal. I said unless it has this and this and this, unless it has these conditions, I don’t want to sign a contract. I said if we’re just going to sign a contract, let’s do it today. That was the hardcore match, double ring, cage [Blood & Guts], on that day. That’s the day we signed the contract. We had a verbal agreement. It has to be this way for me. I’m based in Japan, and I will travel for the matches. Basically, I’m in Japan, I work in Japan. I will be active. I’ll be free to do that. There are other things that make the contract even more flexible. Like if I could appear for another promotion. That kind of thing is normal, like can I compete in another match? We talked about all those kinds of details. I still got the OK. Tell us anything you want. We’ll listen to whatever you say. Reduce the number of matches a little bit more. Because if I go too many times, my activities in Japan will be limited, so reduce the number of matches a little bit more. When I said that, that is OK too. It’s the best deal.“