 In February 2016, Ibushi announced his resignation from NJPW.On February 21, 2016, Ibushi announced that while he had been cleared to return to the ring from his herniated cervical disc, he had decided to resign from both DDT and NJPW and continue his career as a freelancer due to feeling he could not handle the burden of working two schedules.As a freelancer, he is billed as a representative of Ibushi Puroresu Kenkyujo ("Ibushi Pro Wrestling Research Institute").