New Japan Star Will Miss A Year Of Action

When New Japan invaded San Francisco for the G1 Special earlier in July, a gruesome injury occurred in the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title match between Dragon Lee and the champion Hiromu Takahashi. Dragon Lee attempted a package dragon driver and threw Takahashi directly onto his head severely damaging his neck and spinal cord. Hiromu not only finished the matchup, he even managed to score the winning pinfall. Directly following the bout, the champ collapsed backstage and was taken to the nearest medical facility. Immediate reports said that he was responsive within the first 24 hours, but that surgery would most likely be required, and he would most likely miss a considerable amount of action.

Now, the newest Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that the New Japan doctors believe that Takahashi will miss nine to twelve months so his neck can fully heal. Terrible timing for Hiromu, who after a long period of clawing his way to the top of the division was finally awarded for his work. Takahashi would be crowned the winner of the Junior Heavyweight tournament earning him a shot against the former champion Will Ospreay at Dominion, and it was there that his second reign as champion would begin.

It seems that Hiromu will most likely be stripped of the title, but NJPW hasn’t made any official announcement on that yet. We’ll report more as we found out.

Stay tuned.