The G1 Climax 31 tournament has been dealt a major blow with the removal of Tetsuya Naito.

NJPW has announced that Naito suffered a knee injury during his opening match with Zack Sabre Jr. As a result, the former three-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion is out of the tournament.

“During his G1 Climax 31 opening match on September 18 in Osaka, Tetsuya Naito suffered an injury to his left knee.

“Damage was incurred to his left meniscus and MCL. Naito is unable to compete on the remainder of the G1 Climax tour, and does not currently have a timetable for return. All his remaining tournament matches will be counted as losses via forfeit, with opponents gaining an automatic two points.”

The match between Naito and ZSJ was heavily praised. It isn’t too surprising since the two have great chemistry in the ring. What may be surprising is that Naito has to bow out of the tournament. While he has had a history of knee problems, Naito has been quite resilient over the years.

All of Naito’s previously scheduled opponents will now be having special singles matches on the dates they were supposed to face the Los Ingobernables de Japon stalwart.

Tetsuya Naito was a part of the stacked A block. There were many potentially great matches involving Naito that fans will be missing out on. One of the most intriguing matches that was set to take place at the G1 Climax this year was Naito vs. fellow L.I.J. member Shingo Takagi. Takagi is the reigning IWGP World Heavyweight Champion.