What’s the story?
NJPW star Tomoaki Honma suffered what looked to be a severe injury at a New Japan Pro Wrestling live event last week, and the Master of the Kokeshi has been in an Okinawa hospital ever since, with little in the way of concrete news about his status.
All that has changed today, as NJPW trainer Mikio Misawa has given a statement to the Japanese press regarding Honma and his progress since the unfortunate event in Okinawa.
Misawa stated that Honma suffered an injury to the 3rd and 4th cervical vertebrae and also damaged nerves that work with lung and heart functions, but despite this, he is expected to make a recovery and could even return to the ring later down the line.
In case you didn’t know...
Honma was stretchered out of the arena in Okinawa after spiking his head and neck taking the Green Killer rope-hung DDT from CHAOS member Jado.
The initial news coming out of the situation wasn’t good, as it seemed as though Honma could well have been looking at an injury so serious that paralysis was being talked about.
Also read: NJPW News: Tomoaki Honma injured at New Japan Road event
With little in the way of updates from New Japan, Homa’s legions of fans were left in a state of worry over the weekend. They can now breathe easier.
Here’s a video of Honma in action:
The heart of the matter
Mikio Misawa stated that as of right now Honma is still partially paralysed, as he has some feeling in his legs and can grip objects, but his arms are yet to fully recover.
Honma is going to be kept in the hospital in Okinawa for the foreseeable future as doctors are worried that any vibrations or disturbances to the spinal cord could lead to further damage, but despite these worrying statements, Misawa also said that an in-ring return for Honma was feasible.
It may well be the damage to the nerves that causes the most worry for Honma moving forward.
Whilst he may well make a return to the ring way down the line, it almost certainly will not be recommended. This injury might see Honma retire from the ring sooner rather than later.
The news is positive overall, however. Honma is recovering, and whilst it could happen, a return to the ring isn’t even worth discussing yet.
What’s next?
Honma will stay in the medical facility in Okinawa until doctors deem him fit enough to leave.
Honma was scheduled to challenge Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano for the IWGP Tag Team Championships alongside his GBH partner Togi Makabe, but Makabe decided against choosing a replacement partner and as such, Satoshi Kojima and Hiroyoshi Tenzan ended up competing in their place and subsequently won the titles.
The IWGP Tag Team Championships will be far from Honma’s mind for the time being, however. Recovery is all that matters for now.
Sportskeeda’s take
Whenever a professional wrestler suffers an injury as serious as Honma’s it is easy for fans to sink into pure pessimism, so this relatively good news has come as a huge relief to us.
We would like to wish Tomoaki Honma a safe recovery from his injuries and we sincerely hope that they do not impact his day-to-day life further down the line. Long live Honmania.
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