6 Wrestlers Pulled From NJPW Show Due To COVID-19 Protocols

Wrestling Dontaku night 2 this morning from Fukuoka has undergone several lineup changes due to COVID-19 protocols. 6 wrestlers have been removed from the event. The scheduled IWGP Junior Heavyweight title match between El Desperado and YOH has been scrapped entirely.

Kazuchika Okada, Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, SHO, and YOH were all removed from the event. NJPW explained the changes in an update on its website.

“One wrestler who was scheduled to appear on today’s Wrestling Dontaku Day 2 card presented with a fever on the morning of the event,” NJPW’s update reads. “This individual is currently undergoing thorough examination and PCR and antibody testing. In addition, another wrestler who has been a part of events since May 1 in Beppu and has since also presented with a fever is also undergoing evaluation.”

The scheduled IWGP World Championship match on the show was not impacted by the changes. Will Ospreay will still face challenger Shingo Takagi on the card. The winner of that match will face Kazuchika Okada at Wrestle Grand Slam. That event will take place from the Tokyo Dome on May 29th.

Ospreay was recently interviewed by NJPW1972.com about being the new champion.

“It sits with me. It sits well with me. It’s all about the journey. Years ago I saw what was then the IWGP Heavyweight Championship on a guy I admired in AJ Styles, and he said to me ‘if you want this, you’ve got to come to Japan’.”

“I feel like there’s two sides to me. Half of me is that 14 year old boy with stars in their eyes. The other half is the 27 year old man who’s all business. I don’t have friends or brothers except the United Empire. Everyone else is trying to take food off of my table and I’ll walk over anybody to stop that. It isn’t a dream, it’s reality, and I have to do all it takes to stay at the top of this mountain.”