Tetsuya Naito is scheduled for one of the biggest matches of his career, and certainly one that may define the late stages of that career, when he faces Sanada for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship on Jan. 4 at Wrestle Kingdom 18. Yet the LIJ leader would prefer not to wait that long to step back in the ring.
The issue is that Naito is recovering from eye surgery that he recently had to fix a long-term issue with his right eye. It’s the third surgery he’s had since 2019.
Naito was released from the hospital today, and told Tokyo Sports that he didn’t foresee having any problems living his daily life while he recuperates. He did say he’d need probably two weeks off before he started working out strenuously again.
As for getting back to active competition, Naito made it clear he’d prefer if that happened sooner rather than later (h/t Fightful for the translation).
I don’t want to take too much time off, and it’s sad and frustrating not to have my name on the card. I would like to return to competition as soon as possible.
The 41-year-old Naito has been IWGP Heavyweight Champion and IWGP Intercontinental Champion on multiple occasions (including one reign while holding both titles), but has never held the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship created by the unification of those two titles.
He’s also headlined several previous editions of Wrestle Kingdom, though there is a feeling that this may be his last chance to do so. The good thing for New Japan fans is that it doesn’t sound like his eye surgery will prevent him from returning ahead of his intriguing matchup with his former teammate at the Tokyo Dome.