New Young Lion Yuto Nakashima Suffers Elbow Injury In First NJPW Match

New Japan Pro-Wrestling recently announced that new Young Lion Yuto Nakashima had been pulled from the remainder of the Castle Attack tour following an injury to his left elbow. Nakashima was scheduled to face fellow Young Lions Yuya Uemura, Gabriel Kidd and Yota Tsuji in the opening bouts of Road To shows.

Nakashima suffered the injury only one minute into his debut match against Yuya Uemura on Sunday's Korakuen Hall show. The pair were grappling on the mat when Nakashima planted his arm and appeared to dislocate his elbow after Uemura tried to turn him over. The referee immediately ended the bout and Nakashima received medical attention in the ring. After getting to his feet, the new Young Lion pushed Uemura, leaving a rivalry open for his return.

Nakashima has a background in judo, MMA, jiu-jitsu and water polo. He initially took up professional wrestling at Bad Luck Fale's school before it became the NJPW New Zealand Dojo. He then reported to the Noge Dojo in June 2020.

How long Nakashima will be out of action for remains to be seen.