Kota Ibushi is being hospitalized on Wednesday and will undergo a second surgery on his femur on Thursday.
In an Instagram post, Ibushi said doctors will remove all the current plates and replace them with the strongest option available.
Ibushi said he’s exhausted from the repeated surgeries but has no plans to retire:
“I am being hospitalized starting today. Tomorrow, I will undergo a second surgery on my femur. They will remove all the current plates and replace them with the strongest available option, as the doctors said my current ones were simply too weak for my body and leg. Why now? It makes absolutely no sense to me. I am so exhausted from having to go through surgery after surgery. But I am not giving up. I refuse to let something like this end my professional wrestling career. I will make sure this surgery is a success and absolutely return to AEW.”
Ibushi, 44, hasn’t wrestled since the AEW Collision Homecoming taping on October 8, 2025, at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville. The episode aired three days later.
He had surgery on the fracture in October. In February, he needed another procedure after one of the screws came loose. In May, he said the femur still hadn’t fully healed.
In late August, Ibushi said the plate he’d been given in the U.S. wasn’t strong enough and scheduled the replacement for September 17.
There’s no timetable for his return.