WWE News: Hideo Itami injury period revealed
Hideo Itami truly has had bad luck. As we know, he got injured once more at a recent house show, after a botched power slam from Riddick Moss.
It was unclear as to how long he was going to be out. However, it has now been revealed by Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter on his radio show that Itami will be out for two months. He said:
“Hideo Itami is looking right now like he'll be out of action for about two months, from the neck injury when Riddick Moss dropped him on his head with a twisting powerslam off the ropes. That's good news because with surgery he'd be looking at another six plus months off”
This definitely is not a long period of time.
Unfortunately, he will be missing NXT Takeover: Toronto, but he will very likely be back in time for the NXT tour of Japan this December. He promised that he would make it back in time for the Osaka show.
He missed out on The Beast In The East last year in Japan. It was rumoured that the original plan was for him to beat Kevin Owens in his home country and become NXT Champion. However, plans changed due to his injury and Finn Balor ended up getting the title instead, even going on to become the longest reigning NXT Champion in history at 292 days.
Itami was also set to be in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic with Kota Ibushi, but had to pull out due to his injury, and was instead replaced by WWE Cruiserweight Champion TJ Perkins. It looked like Hideo Itami was going to have a match against Austin Aries that would take place at NXT Takeover: Toronto as they were currently involved in a feud.
Now, Aries does not have a match there, unless he makes it to the Semi-Finals of the tournament, which will then ensure that he is featured on the Takeover: Toronto card. However, 2 months off is good news compared to a possible six.