Tetsuya Naito will undergo surgery on his left eye on December 18th but is still scheduled to compete at Wrestle Kingdom.
The new World Tag League co-champion will miss the Road to the Tokyo Dome tour between December 18th and 23rd, New Japan announced on Monday.
However, Naito is still set to face his World Tag League partner Hiromu Takahashi on January 4th.
The 42-year-old has been dealing with superior oblique muscle paralysis in his left eye since 2019. He has already undergone three procedures to address the issue.
Per NJPW:
Thank you for supporting New Japan Pro-Wrestling.
As announced at the post World tag League press conference, Tetsuya Naito will receive surgery on his left eye.
As a result, Naito will miss events on the Road to Tokyo Dome tour, which starts December 18 in Saitama and runs through December 23 in Korakuen Hall.
We apologise to fans who were looking forward to seeing Naito wrestle, and appreciate your understanding. NJPW joins fans in wishing Naito well in his surgery, and for a speedy recovery.
As reported by Tokyo Sports, Naito said:
People often talk about my knee issues, but honestly, my eye is worse. When I look at the ground, I see two surfaces—one flat and one tilted. Running with that kind of vision is tricky; I can’t trust my footing, opponents appear doubled, and in some places, I can’t judge distances properly. I couldn’t focus 100% on my matches, and it was incredibly stressful.
When I use both eyes, my vision misaligns. It seems there’s a way to adjust my good eye to match the impaired one, so the two eyes work together properly. It sounded risky, and I was extremely hesitant, but once the match with Hiromu Takahashi was confirmed, I decided to go through with it.
I’m scared, but if there’s a chance for recovery, I want to take it. That’s how much this singles match with Hiromu means to me. It’s something I absolutely want to do. I want to step into the ring as the strongest version of myself and show Hiromu the pride of a mentor.
