Veteran Japanese wrestler and winner of DDT Pro Wrestling’s D-Oh Grand Prix 2021 tournament Jun Akiyama has had knee surgery, ruling him out of active competition for the coming weeks.
The legendary grappler, 51, will be forced to miss DDT’s upcoming shows on the 9th (at Korakuen Hall) and 28th (Shinjuku Face tournament) ahead of his expected return on the 31st.
Akiyama, who underwent an arthroscopic meniscus resection to repair a meniscus injury in his left knee, will challenge Tetsuya Endo for the promotion’s top prize, the KO-D Openweight Championship, at Kawasaki Strong on February 14th.
Tweeting in response to the news, Akiyama had the following to say:
I was unable to bend and stretch my knees and had to undergo surgery in a hurry. I’m sorry to all the fans who were looking forward to my participation. We apologise for the inconvenience to DDT wrestlers and everyone involved.
However in more positive news for the group, it was confirmed that Yusuke Okada will debut at the Korakuen Hall show.
It was announced in early December that Okada was set to leave All Japan Pro Wrestling, having reached an amicable decision with AJPW President Takeki Fukuda.
Okada then appeared on DDT’s first show of the year, appealing directly to DDT President (and current Extreme Division Champion) Sanshiro Takagi for a spot in the January 9th tournament.
With his request accepted, Okada, who has wrestled almost exclusively for All Japan, will make his debut in a six man tag team match. teaming with Makoto Oishi and Watase Mizuki to take on Damnation stable representatives Tetsuya Endo, Daisuke Sasaki & Tsunehiro Shimatani.
With thanks to DDT English Update