Pain Is Nature

Kota Ibushi vs Ren Narita, NJPW Showdown in Los Angeles, 11 November 2019 (New Japan Pro Wrestling)

Kota Ibushi is beautiful and devastating, which is not the same as being devastatingly beautiful. His body is a weapon, but his face is usually serene as a full moon. His sadistic attacks, unexpected from such a beauty, can be humiliating or infuriating. He knows that either approach pushes an opponent to act rashly. 

A rash response is easier to crush than a patient or settled response. Pain is to be accepted, if not welcomed. An emotional response to distress weakens an opponent. If Ibushi is not the Buddha, and probably he isn't, he at least models the self-control of the Enlightened One. 

(Note: At the beginning of this year, Kota Ibushi said that if he could beat Jay White, he would become a god, so my take on him may not be as wacky as it sounds.)

Ren Narita doesn't have Ibushi's experience or cold-bloodedness. He falls into the trap of reacting emotionally to his public humiliation. He reacts with fury, rather than with the icepick of a measured stratagem. Personally, I wouldn't have it any other way. I love a guy who can turn his misery into a radiant spectacle before over hundreds of spectators.

And, needless to say, I love a cold hard beauty who shows no mercy.

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