El Desperado is out of NJPW’s Super Jr. Tag League, which begins Saturday, October 24, in Kumagaya, Saitama. NJPW announced that he has been diagnosed with spinal canal stenosis and a hernia. Young Lion Masatora Yasuda will replace him as Mistico’s partner, a choice Desperado made himself.
In a video released on YouTube, Desperado said: “My left leg has no strength, and with the pain and pins and needles I’m currently unable to stand, walk or even sit upright for long periods of time.”
He said he first noticed symptoms at the start of the year and that the pain began around June. He kept wrestling on painkillers. “I said I could still wrestle, but I was taking the issue far too lightly. My body had reached its limits,” he said.
On choosing Yasuda, Desperado said: “I want to give Yasuda this opportunity to team alongside a global megastar like Mistico, and to see what he can make of this spot.”
Desperado and Mistico had entered the A Block as a debut team. The A Block also includes Unbound Co. (Taiji Ishimori and Robbie X), HOUSE OF TORTURE (DOUKI and Yoshinobu Kanemaru), Ryusuke Taguchi and Kazuma Sumi, and Master Wato and KUUKAI. The A and B Block winners meet in the final at Power Struggle on November 3 at Hiroshima Sun Plaza Hall.
Desperado had been scheduled to face Mistico one-on-one at Lucha Kingdom on November 16 at Arena México in Mexico City. As of this writing, NJPW has not announced a change to that match.
Super Jr. Tag League night one starts at 5 p.m. local time (4 a.m. ET) on Saturday and streams live in English on NJPW World.
WrestlingNews.co wishes El Desperado a full recovery.
