New Japan Pro Wrestling’s annual G1 Climax tournament is arguably the most grueling in all of professional wrestling. While that may be entertaining for the fans watching at home, it can have serious side effects on the wrestlers competing.
This year’s G1 is no different as Tetsuya Naito has suffered an injury to his left Meniscus and MCL, and has been forced to withdraw from the tournament, New Japan announced in a statement early this morning. The injury reportedly occurred during his first match of the tournament against Zack Sabre Jr. on September 18th.
The company also announced that there will not be a replacement for the two-time G1 winner. Naito’s remaining block matches will be counted as a forfeit, with each competitor that was set to face him receiving an automatic two points. His opponents instead will wrestle special singles matches on the respective nights that they were originally scheduled to face him. We here at Bodyslam.net wish Tetsuya a speedy recovery.
To read NJPW’s full statement, and the entire list of G1 card changes, click the link in the tweet below:
