This will be the third time Naito has undergo this same operation.
Headlining NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18 in January will be Tetsuya Naito versus SANADA for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. Before their bout, Naito will undergoing another eye operation.
Per Tokyo Sports, Naito is getting right eye surgery on November 7th. The surgery is to improve the superior oblique palsy that Naito has been dealing with for several years. He underwent right eye surgery in 2022 and this upcoming operation will be the third time he’s getting it.
In Naito’s post-Power Struggle backstage interview, he sarcastically said since he was already scheduled for the Tokyo Dome, he surely cannot participate in World Tag League so that means he’s off. He added that it was the right time for him to take a ‘step forward’ and that step was revealed to be the surgery.
Naito told Tokyo Sports that it’s muscle paralysis, so it won’t be completely healed. If he continues to wrestle, it’ll likely go back to the same condition pre-operation. After winning the G1 Climax over the summer, Naito shared that his eye was starting to revert to the same condition following the 2022 surgery.
His doctor told him he can only do the operation three times so this is the last go-around. Naito stated that he wanted to save that last surgery for when he retires. He went on to express that he wants to cherish the present because the present will never come back.
