What's the story?
On March 4th, New Japan Pro Wrestling announced on its official website, that Tomoaki Honma, who injured his neck at an NJPW Road event, will not be participating in NJPW's anniversary show to be held on the 6th of March.
According to NJPW, Honma, after the incident, was immediately taken to a hospital in Okinawa, wherein he was found to have injured his cervical vertebrae. Therefore, Honma will not be able to participate in the anniversary show.
In case you didn't know...
At NJPW's anniversary show, Honma was supposed to work in a tag team match with Togi Makabe for the IWGP Tag Team Championship. But, now with his tag partner and friend out of the picture, Makabe declined to compete for the tag titles.
The heart of the matter
Honma injured his neck after receiving a middle-rope DDT from Jado. The accident occurred after Honma's foot got caught in the rope, thus changing the course of his landing.
According to F4WOnline's Dave Meltzer, his sources reported that Honma was able to speak and move his head, but wasn't able to move his hands or his legs. Similarly, after the accident took place and the doctors rushed to the ring, Honma was able to speak, but couldn't move the rest of his body.
What's next?
With Honma and Makabe out of the picture, the IWGP Executive Committee named Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima as the contenders for the IWGP Tag Team Titles. Thus, Kojima and Tenzan will be facing IWGP Tag Champions Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano at the anniversary show.
Makabe, Honma's partner, will now compete in a five-man tag team match against The Bullet Club alongside Yuji Nagata, Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask, & David Finlay.
Sportskeeda’s take
We’ll be sure to keep our readers updated with Mr Honma’s medical status, and we also wish him a speedy recovery.
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