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Old 05-12-2022, 10:09 AM   #2545
Evil Vito
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My read on the situation is that, at least right now, he has no real desire to wrestle any more. That might be a short-term thing to work through, but I don't think he just wants out of his NJPW contract, I think he's burned out and needs a break full stop.

Perhaps he's really just comparing NJPW's business practices to the Yakuza instead of saying they're involved outright. But invoking Yakuza involvement at all, if that's what he's actually doing, is a huge step. Putting something like this out there isn't just going to have NJPW not wanting to book him, but multiple other promotions reluctant to touch him either.

Even if the reality of it is that Ibushi is a whistleblower here, and therefore broadly in the right, Japanese sports and business culture do not look kindly on someone rocking the boat like this, to say nothing of how the actual Yakuza might feel.

That, to me, suggests someone happy to step away from the ring altogether, for the time being. He's reportedly been very careful with the money he's made over his career. His body's battered. He turns 40 in a week. He's not the away-with-the-fairies manchild that sections of the fanbase paint him as, even if he is a bit of an oddball.

Obviously there's a history of Yakuza involvement in Japanese wrestling and combat sports. But if it can be actually proven in NJPW's case, there's a significant chance of them losing major sponsors and TV coverage, if not being shuttered outright.
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