Eight Wrestlers To Miss August 16 NJPW Live Event Due to COVID-19 Protocols

New Japan Pro Wrestling were once again forced into late changes to advertised matches for a show due to COVID-19 protocols. 

The promotion were required to pull eight wrestlers from Monday's NJPW Summer Struggle event at Korakuen Hall as a result of displaying coronavirus symptoms or from being a close contact of those with symptoms.

NJPW announced in a statement that IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Shingo Takagi and BUSHI had presented with a fever upon arrival at Sunday's live event show in Shizuoka. In compliance with protocols, both were pulled from the card, as well as Monday's show, and took PCR tests. Both are awaiting results.

The other six wrestlers who were pulled from Monday's show were done so due to contact tracing. Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, Gedo and Dick Togo had shared the ring with Shingo and BUSHI at Saturday's event.

The August 16 NJPW Summer Struggle card, which starts at 10:30am UK time, now looks like this: 

• Super Jr. Tag League: El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. SHO & YOH 
• Super Jr. Tag League: Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo vs. Robbie Eagles & Tiger Mask
• Kazuchika Okada & Toru Yano vs. Chase Owens & Jado
• Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima vs Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr, Minoru Suzuki & DOUKI
• Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato