Kota Ibushi stretchered out during AEW Collision taping
Image: JJ Williams
Kota Ibushi apparently suffered an injury during his match with Josh Alexander during Wednesday’s AEW Collision TV taping in Jacksonville, Florida.
As described by our JJ Williams who is in attendance, Ibushi fell off the top rope to the outside of the ring as his leg appeared to give out. He didn’t make it back into the ring in time and Alexander won by countout.
Kenny Omega then returned to fight off the Don Callis Family and then tended to Ibushi. The house lights were lowered as medical personnel assisted Ibushi, eventually carrying him out on a stretcher to an ambulance (seen below). AEW head Tony Khan later came out and thanked the fans for being “good fans” and re-iterated how dangerous wrestling is.
As of this writing, it’s unconfirmed what the injury is or what led to the fall. A PWInsider reported stated there is talk backstage of a broken femur but nothing has been announced yet.
The 43-year-old last competed at August’s Forbidden Door as part of the Will Ospreay-led team in the unsanctioned steel cage match. After a lengthy absence from AEW, he returned in June to re-align with Omega against the Callis crew and has wrestled four total times since then.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.