[Sad news]
Tetsuya Naito (39) has worse knee condition than Hiroshi Tanahashi (45).
In a post-match conversation between Milano Collection AT and Hiroshi Tanahashi on NJPWWORLD, Tanahashi said, "According to the chiropractic teacher, Naito's knee condition is worse than mine."
Naito can't bend or extend his knees, while Tanahashi, who has had a history of knee issues, still can. Tanahashi was surprised at how Naito is able to move as well as he does in that condition.
don't care lol
>39 years old
>can't bend or extend his knees
holy KWAB
was it worth all the bowls of rice?
How is that sad? Naitetty is an anti-draw shitter.
God bless the guy and I wish him the best, but he is and always will be an anti draw. Were he to descend to low/mid card or retire the ticket sales won't miss him.
Naito's the retard who said he'd rather retire broken because he had no long term ideas for the future. He'll be in a wheelchair and proud that he had all those good matches without any proper rest.
Why does wrestling fuck up your knees so much exactly? I never really understood this.
You don't seem to take many (any?) hard bumps on your knees, like a big jump where you land on your feet or something. I'd expect way more people to be screwed up with back issues or nerve damage in their neck but knees are a really common thing to blow out.
all that just for him to be the most boring shitter in the ring
kek Tana flexing on Naito passive aggressively. he really does still hate him
He was the top merch mover in NJPW for 3 years straight
All that lifting with your knees constantly with little rest wears you down
The constant stopping/starting maybe? Or the canvas being bouncy and shitty footwear they run in? Rey Mysterio and Kevin Nash two completely different guys have knee issues. That's a good question
Even just falling from standing to your knees over and over again will take it’s toll. I think running in American rings coz they’re bouncier will do more damage, but falling on the hard Japanese rings will do more damage.
Honestly though, I think it’s the training they do. All the running and weightlifting. I’ve been training in MMA for 15 years but I don’t run or lift weights or do like body weight exercises and my knees are fine, but I imagine if I was running miles every week for that much time, that’s so much extra wear and tear on my knees that I don’t have. I’ve also never had an injury that would stop me from training the next day either
>Naito is only 6 years younger than Tana
Wtf
knees are the worst joints in our body, the fucking things are useless
pretty much any kind of long term athlete or laborer is at risk of having knee problems at some point in their life
Naito's are so bad he must have a physical defect or something though, he's been taping them up and having them drained of fluid every week for years now
LIJ stuff sold great but Naito's never been a huge draw like Okada.
It's ok that Naito, Tana, Okada and Ibushi are pure sawdust because of the great job NJPW has done building new guys to replace them like
>Okada
this is pure headcanon by Meltzer
Okada isn't hurt, he's just lazy when he isn't in the main event
Some partially correct answers, but you're all missing the big one.
Assuming you aren't a complete shitter that's taking them directly on the head, where do you think most "face" bumps are breaking their fall? It's yours knees or your wrists. Bulldogs, DDTs, any dive or slide, all these over time destroy your knees.
Doing the Stardust Press for years didn’t help either
Okada's only like, 1/3 sawdust. He's still doing pretty okay other than a sore back
It's pretty crazy how fast Ibushi imploded though. Like 2 years ago people thought the dude was a fucking cyborg, now he looks like a dying old woman.
Shingo still has a couple more decent years left in him and Ospreay will still be good for a while and seems intent on sticking around at least for now. Hopefully their current young lions will turn out and that'll be enough time, otherwise they're mega fucked.
That’s what I meant when I said even a fall from standing to your knees does damage, small shit like that will take its toll. Eddie Bravo though autistic, was smart when he said he wore knee pads everywhere in case he needed to shoot a double leg on someone, because doing that on concrete fucking hurts
Based
based big autism lance getting the last laugh
There's a reason he stopped performing his diving elbow drop and even Rainmaker for a while. His lower back is fucked up.
Okada is only 34 and he works a very safe and conservative style compared to other Japanese wrestlers. He's been building himself to last from the start.
The inactivity during lockdown must have fucked Ibushi up. He's like an old car where it needs running everyday to prevent it packing up.
Pretty sure the young lions will save the company for sure. They've had such a slow burn they must be some of the best young talent in decades.
>there's a reason he stopped performing his diving elbow drop
He barely ever uses that move anymore and hasn't since like 2018. And c'mon, he stopped doing the Rainmaker because of his back? Get the fuck out of here with these lies kek
>Rey Mysterio and Kevin Nash two completely different guys have knee issues.
Nash has knee issues because he's tall. Being very tall is a death sentence for your legs. Just living a normal life will fuck them up.
Speaking of Ibushi, here’s his knees