Kota Ibushi holds both the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championships. The belts have been defended together since Tetsuya Naito won them at Wrestle Kingdom in 2020. Ibushi reiterated to NJPW1972.com recently, however, that he wants to unify the two title belts.
“I said this after the match on the fifth, but I want to put it out there again. I want to take these two belts and unify them,” Ibushi said. “This isn’t something I take lightly. I have a big connection with this Intercontinental belt. And the Heavyweight Championship is the top prize in NJPW. But that said, I still want to make these two things into one.”
“Last year, these belts were defended together, right? One belt didn’t change hands without the other. So if we take these two and make them one belt, that makes you the strongest and the best, all in one. Maybe not everyone can see it right now, but there’s no doubt in my mind, it’d make for something awesome. I have a big plan for this. So I’ll say it again, on the record. I want these two belts to be one.”
Ibushi would continue to say that he wants this change to happen as soon as possible. Ideally, it would happen before his scheduled title defence against SANADA on February 11th, 2021.
“Splitting the two back up would be confusing, so I think it’s really better to just have one. Maybe it might be different, a new design, perhaps, but that’s what I want to do here,” Ibushi continued.
NJPW is currently preparing for its New Beginning tour. The big events will be held January 30th in Nagoya, and February 10th and 11th in Hiroshima.
