New Japan Pro Wrestling announced that KENTA has been removed from day three of Wrestle Kingdom as during his match on the second night of Wrestle Kingdom 16 he sustained a dislocated left hip, a broken nose, tendon damage to his finger, and severe lacerations to his back.
The match itself was an IWGP US title bout held under NO-DQ rules, which allowed both Kenta and Hiroshi Tanahashi to use a wide variety of weapons and foreign objects. It concluded with Tanahashi jumping off a ladder on KENTA, who lay on a solid wooden table. Due to Tanahashi’s fall impact, the table broke in half, resulting in KENTA’s back lacerations.
KENTA is not medically cleared to take compete in Yokohama Arena Saturday, January 8. The upcoming match was the second part of his comeback to Pro Wrestling NOAH, where he spent most of his career and made a name for himself, mainly due to a longstanding rivalry with Naomichi Marufuji.
At NOAH The New Year 2022 event KENTA teamed up with Takashi Sugiura and MMA legend, Kazushi Sakuraba and defeated Daiki Inaba, Masa Kitamiya, and Yoshiki Inamura. In his second match after his return, he was scheduled to once again team up with Sugiura and Sakuraba to take on Taichi, TAKA Michinoku, and Minoru Suzuki. Now he will be replaced by a mystery partner for Sugiura-Gun, who probably will be former IWGP champion and Antonio Inoki protege, Kazuyuki Fujita.
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