Photo: Beloved AEW star finally back on his feet after devastating injury

An AEW and pro-wrestling fan-favorite is finally back on his feet weeks after suffering a horrific injury that put him out of commission indefinitely. The star in question, Kota Ibushi, recently underwent surgery for the same.

Earlier this month on Collision : Homecoming, The Golden Star battled Josh Alexander of the Don Callis Family one-on-one, a matchup that stemmed from the heel faction's long-running feud with Kota's close ally and tag partner, Kenny Omega. Unfortunately, towards the closing stretch of the bout, Ibushi suffered a big fall to the floor from the top turnbuckle, which resulted in the former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion sustaining a broken femur.

Kota went under the knife for his injury soon afterwards, and has since expressed his heartfelt gratitude towards Omega and especially towards AEW head honcho Tony Khan for their concern and support. A more recent update on Instagram depicts Ibushi using a wheelchair, including a clip which shows him standing up on his own two feet without anyone's help.

"In the second and third pictures, my shoulders get tired quickly, but I managed to stand on my own‼️‼️ I experienced the difficulty of standing for the first time in about 42 years (though I don’t remember it). I still can’t take the first step. I don’t have enough strength. But, if I may say so myself, I’m really trying, right? lol," wrote Ibushi in the caption. [H/T - ITR Wrestling]

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It remains to be seen when Kota Ibushi will be ready to step back into the squared circle.

Kota Ibushi missed out on wrestling at an AEW pay-per-view

Earlier this month, on October 18, All Elite Wrestling hosted the 2025 edition of WrestleDream in St. Louis, MO. The pay-per-view featured a number of the company's top names, and was seemingly set to feature a star who ended up ultimately not competing at the event - Kota Ibushi.

During the media call ahead of WrestleDream, AEW's head of creative Tony Khan disclosed that the former NJPW athlete's injury prevented him from performing on the show at the Chaifetz Arena, stating:

"That was devastating for many reasons," Khan began. "I'm very, very sad to see Kota Ibushi not being able to wrestle and compete. Absolutely, Kota Ibushi was planned to wrestle on WrestleDream, and the injury was devastating, and I have had to make changes in recent days accordingly. But Kota Ibushi is absolutely somebody we will be excited to have back in AEW if and when he's ready, and I'm very sad about his injury." [H/T - Yahoo!Sports]

Sportskeeda Wrestling once again wishes Kota Ibushi a swift and speedy recovery.

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Edited by Anurag Mukherjee