Tetsuya Naito Pulled From NJPW G1 Climax 31 Due To Knee Injury

One of the favourites to win G1 Climax 31 has been pulled from The Tournament Of Tournaments.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling announced today that Tetsuya Naito suffered an injury to his left knee during his opening G1 match against Zack Sabre Jr. on September 18.

Naito suffered damage to his left meniscus and MCL and he will be on the shelf indefinitely. As a result, the former IWGP Heavyweight Champion has been pulled from the remainder of G1 Climax 31.

Naito's remaining matches will be marked down as losses via forfeit and his opponents will automatically be awarded two points. The leader of Los Ingobernables de Japon's opponents will compete in special singles matches instead of facing Naito on the day of their scheduled bouts.

G1 Climax 31 will resume on Thursday, September 23 with the second round of A Block matches. Naito's opponent, Tanga Loa, will go one on one with Yuji Nagata instead.

Naito has suffered from knee problems throughout his career and he previously underwent reconstructive knee surgery in 2012.