Kota Ibushi suffers a surprise defeat to Bullet Club star on the opening day of G1 Climax 31
This year's G1 Climax 31 tournament started with a loss for Kota Ibushi.
The former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion lost his opening block match to Bullet Club's Yujiro Takahashi in what will be regarded as one of the shocks of the tournament.
Ibushi recently suffered from aspiration pneumonia and is yet to fully recover. NJPW has been following that story ever since he came back to in-ring action.
In the first match of this year's G1 Climax, Takahashi used his classic heel antics to beat Ibushi. The Bullet Club veteran used foreign objects to cause pressure on Ibushi behind the referee's back.
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Takahashi managed to block Ibushi's strongest move, Kamigoye. In return, the former G1 Climax winner blocked the Pimp Juice and hit a V-Trigger on Takahashi.
However, in classic Bullet Club fashion, Takahashi used the threat of a ref bump to hit a low-blow. He followed up with a close two-count, as Ibushi kicked out.
Takahashi, however, hit the Big Juice implant DDT and got the three-count and a surprise win over former G1 Climax winner and IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, Kota Ibushi.
What's next for Yujiro Takahashi and Kota Ibushi?
Ibushi will next be facing the resilient Tomohiro Ishii. Both men got off to a losing start in this year's G1 Climax. Ishii will aim to open his account on the points table after losing to reigning IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, Shingo Takagi on the opening day.
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Takahashi will next be in action against fellow Bullet Club stablemate KENTA. The pair will be the second match on the card, and Takahashi will aim to get another big victory over a former NEVER Openweight Champion.
The task at hand definitely won't be easy, as KENTA also lost on Day 1 to Toru Yano. Takahashi is surely going to be taken to his limits once again by his fellow stablemate.