Otani sends positive words to Takashi Sugiura.
In April of 2022, Shinjiro Otani and Takashi Sugiura were competing for the ZERO1 World Heavyweight Championship. The match ended after Sugiura gave Otani a German suplex into a corner pad and he suffered a cervical spinal cord injury.
The latest update on Otani came in late 2022 and he remains paralyzed from the neck down but his respiratory dysfunction improved.
Otani has been able to communicate on his Twitter page via a setup that was made for him while in the hospital. He sent a message to Sugiura and thanked him for giving him everything they had in their match and said he’ll stand in front of Sugiura again. Otani added that he wants Sugiura to enjoy wrestling and the next time they fight, he will not let him down.
Takashi Sugiura… It’s been quite a few months already. Last year on 4/10 at Ryogoku Kokugikan. Thank you so much for fighting with me with all your might! I will definitely stand in front of you again! So… Whenever you want. Fight like crazy. Enjoy wrestling. Be a strong pro-wrestler! I just want to say… Next time we fight, I won’t let you down!
杉浦貴選手
もうかなり月日が過ぎましたが
昨年4/10両国国技館大会
僕と全力で闘ってくれて本当にありがとうございました！
僕は必ずまたあなたの前に立ちます！
なので…
いつでも
夢中で闘い
プロレスを楽しむ
強いプロレスラーでいて下さい！
ただ
次に闘う時は絶対に負けないからな！！
— 大谷 晋二郎『』 (@otani_shinjiro) January 15, 2023
After the injury to Otani, Sugiura was present for a press conference that Pro Wrestling NOAH hosted. All questions about the Otani injury were directed over to NOAH’s Director, Narihiro Takeda, who stated that Sugiura received a great deal of backlash on social media after the incident.
