Tag: yuto nakashima

Four wrestlers not cleared to compete in New Japan Road matches

Posted on by Joseph Currier

NJPW has announced several changes to the cards for its current New Japan Road tour.

Alex Coughlin and Yuto Nakashima will both miss the three remaining shows on the tour due to injury. Coughlin has sustained an injury to his left calf muscle, while Nakashima has a left elbow injury.

YOH has tested positive for COVID-19 and has been self isolating. He’ll miss the New Japan Road events on Sunday, July 3 and Monday, July 4 but will be cleared to return in time for the Tuesday, July 5 show, where YOH, YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto will challenge EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi & SHO for the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team titles.

DOUKI is off the New Japan Road tour due to being in close contact with someone who was infected with COVID.

Here is the full list of card changes:

Sunday, July 3 —

– Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Ryohei Oiwa & Yuto Nakashima will now be Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Ryohei Oiwa & X (mystery partner)

– Alex Coughlin, Clark Connors & The DKC vs. Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & Shingo Takagi will now be Yuji Nagata, Clark Connors & The DKC vs. Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & Shingo Takagi

– YOH, Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano vs. EVIL, Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi & SHO will now be Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano vs. EVIL, Dick Togo & Yujiro Takahashi

– Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Taichi & DOUKI will now be Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Taichi & TAKA Michinoku

Monday, July 4 —

– Yuto Nakashima vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru will now be X (mystery opponent) vs. TAKA Michinoku

– Alex Coughlin, Clark Connors & The DKC vs. Taichi, El Desperado & DOUKI will now be Yuji Nagata, Clark Connors & The DKC vs. Taichi, El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru

– YOH, Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano vs. EVIL, Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi & SHO will now be Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Toru Yano vs. EVIL, Dick Togo & Yujiro Takahashi

Tuesday, July 5 —

– Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Yuto Nakashima will now be Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & X (mystery partner)

– Alex Coughlin, Clark Connors & The DKC vs. Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii & Alex Zayne will now be Yuji Nagata, Clark Connors & The DKC vs. Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii & Alex Zayne

– Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, SANADA, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI vs. Taichi, Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI will now be Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, SANADA, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI vs. Taichi, Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & TAKA Michinoku

NJPW announces changes to Golden Series tour following injuries, COVID-19 protocols

Posted on by Bryan Rose

New Japan Pro Wrestling announced this morning new changes to their Golden Series tour due to COVID-19 protocols and injuries.

NJPW announced that Jeff Cobb is currently recovering from a left patellar tendon tear and a muscle strain in his left leg following his match against Tetsuya Naito on January 5. As a result, he will not be on the Golden Series tour. Young Lion Yuto Nakashima is also out of action after suffering a blow to the head on February 7 and will be out up to February 13. Additionally, YOSHI-HASHI and Taiji Ishimori have been pulled from the February 11 event in Sendai due to COVID protocols.

Cobb was originally set to team with Great-O-Khan on February 11 against Satoshi Kojima and Hiroyoshi Tenzan. Instead, Great-O-Khan will face Kojima in a singles match and will continue to wrestle in singles matches for the rest of the tour, including the February 13 event in Osaka where he will face Togi Makabe.

Nakashima was originally set to team in the kickoff match on February 13. That match has been changed to Ryohei Oiwa, Kojima, and Tenzan facing Kosei Fujita, Tomoaki Honma, and Yuji Nagata.

A six-man tag that YOSHI-HASHI was scheduled to be in will now have Hiroyoshi Tenzan take his place as he teams with Hirooki Goto and Tomohiro Ishii to face EVIL, Dick Togo, and Yujiro Takahashi. Gedo will replace Ishimori in a singles match against Tiger Mask.

NJPW’s Yuto Nakashima off Castle Attack tour after elbow injury

Posted on by Ethan Renner

NJPW has announced that their newest Young Lion, Yuto Nakashima, will miss the rest of the Castle Attack tour after suffering an elbow injury. 

Nakashima suffered the injury roughly twenty seconds into his main roster debut match against Yuya Uemura on Sunday’s Road to Castle Attack show at Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall. 

The two were grappling and Nakashima planted his left arm on the mat to brace himself. The arm gave way and the elbow appeared to dislocate. The match was stopped and awarded to Uemura.

Nakashima lightly shoved Uemura and stared him down in the post-match. The impromptu angle sets up a natural rivalry between the two for when Nakashima returns. 

Nakashima’s debut was announced on February 1 and he had been scheduled to work pre-show matches on the Korakuen leg of the tour, as well as other matches on untelevised events. 

Nakashima, 24, was a Fale Dojo trainee in New Zealand prior to joining NJPW’s Noge Dojo in June 2020. 

Title match, new Young Lion debut set for NJPW Road to Castle Attack

Posted on by Bryan Rose

An IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team title match has been announced for the final night of NJPW’s Road to Castle Attack tour.

The Road to Castle Attack tour is taking place from Sunday, February 14 to Thursday, February 25. The final event of the tour will see El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori defend their IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team titles against Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI. At the New Beginning in Hiroshima night one earlier this week, ELP and Ishimori attacked Takahashi after he retained his IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship against SHO in the main event. BUSHI came out to even the odds, and the title match was set up.

ELP will challenge Takahashi for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship at night two of Castle Attack. Castle Attack is taking place on Saturday, February 27 and Sunday, February 28.

NJPW has also announced that a new Young Lion has been added to their roster. 24-year-old Yuto Nakashima will make his debut on the February 14 Road to Castle Attack show, facing Yuya Uemura. 

Nakashima trained for a year at the Fale dojo in New Zealand before moving to NJPW’s dojo in Japan. He has a background in MMA, jiu-jitsu, judo, and water polo.