NJPW News: NJPW veteran suffers devastating ACL injury
What’s the story?
As announced by NJPW’s official website, former six-time IWGP Tag Team Champion and one half of Tencozy, Satoshi Kojima is all set to miss NJPW’s upcoming New Beginning tour due to a ruptured left ACL injury that he suffered recently.
In case you didn’t know…
At the age of 47, Satoshi Kojima is one of the most experienced veterans currently working with NJPW. Kojima, a former IWGP Heavyweight Champion, is also the first wrestler to hold the IWGP Heavyweight Title and the AJPW Triple Crown Championship simultaneously.
Kojima is also known for his work as part of the Tencozy tag team alongside his long-term tag team partner Hiroyoshi Tenzan. The duo has previously held the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Titles on six different occasions and is also the first tag team in history to win G1 Tag League and World's Strongest Tag Determination League on the same year.
The heart of the matter
Earlier today, it was reported by NJPW that Satoshi Kojima is all set to miss this year’s NJPW: New Beginning tour due to a ruptured left ACL. Further reports have also suggested that Kojima’s situation is currently being monitored to decide on the best course of various treatment and rehab options. However, as of right now, NJPW is still unable to provide a timetable for Kojima’s return.
As noted, NJPW is now set to make various changes to the upcoming match cards for the New Beginning tour in the absence of Satoshi Kojima. Additionally, Kojima’s fellow New Japan colleague and close friend Jushin Thunder Liger has also stated that Kojima’s knee injury happened on the 17th of January in Toyama and despite that, the former IWGP Heavyweight Champion decided to wrestle through his match against Rush this past weekend at NJPW: Fantasticamania 2018.
What’s next?
As mentioned in the above section, NJPW still remains unsure about Satoshi Kojima’s return as of right now. However, we can assume that Kojima will be sidelined for a lengthy period of time.
Author’s take
A veteran like Satoshi Kojima deserves all the credit in the world for working a match with a ruptured ACL. We at Sportskeeda wish the former NWA World Champion a speedy recovery and hope he gets back to the ring as soon as possible.