Following Career-Threatening Injury, Former IWGP Tag Champ Set For In-Ring Return

Back in March of 2017 former IWGP Tag Team Champion Tomoaki Honma suffered a career-threatening injury after taking a draping DDT by Jado in the middle of a Six-Man Tag Team match.

After the move, Honma was unable to move anything from the neck down. As a result, the match was stopped. Later reports revealed that Honma had suffered a cervical vertebrae injury and was hospitalized for nearly four months.

New Japan Pro Wrestling later announced that his in-ring return was “tentative” and he forfeited his shot at the IWGP Tag Team Championships. Nikkan Sports would later report that Honma was able to regain function enough to “grasp objects on the upper extremities.”

Despite this, he was still deep in the recovery process and any return to wrestling was described as “undetermined.” The following November, Honma was able to return to training and began taking bumps in hopes of getting back in the ring soon.

15 months later, Honma has fully recovered and is scheduled to appear at the the NJPW Best Of The Super Juniors block final. He and tag team partner Togi Makabe have issued an open challenge to anyone willing to face them at the Kizuna Road show on June 23rd in Yamagata.