Newman is back in the mix.
Back in December as the NJPW World Tag League was ongoing, Callum Newman went down with a knee injury. For the first time since then, he returned to in-ring action.
Newman is gearing up for his match against Tetsuya Naito in the New Japan Cup tournament. Ahead of his bout, he spoke to NJPW1972.com for an interview.
He spoke about the knee injury and said after it happened, he immediately began thinking he would need ACL surgery.
I was on the top turnbuckle, and both feet were on the same side of the corner. My foot was locked in place, so as I came down on the top, my foot stayed, and the rest of my leg came down on the wrong side of my knee. I felt the knee pop out once, and then come back in twice.
Yeah (it dislocated). I felt like a bang and then two pops back in. As I fell down off the corner, I could hear the air being sucked out of the arena, you know? Marty (Asami) was calling over the ropes, ‘Can you carry on’? And all I could do was just scream, No.’ It was the first time I’ve ever had to stop a match. I just felt a panic attack happening.
My brain started going through all the scenarios, and I’m an overthinker at the best of times. I’m just thinking, ‘OK, ACL, surgery, months off…’ You get to the back and of course, everyone’s a doctor all of a sudden (laughs).
The official diagnosis was a dislocated knee and bone bruise. Newman also had to have his knee drained. He opened up about that process and said if the drainage would have continued pulling blood instead of just joint fluid, he would’ve had to undergo surgery.
A dislocated kneecap and a bone bruise. I didn’t need surgery, but I did need to have it drained… The first time was all blood, the second time was blood and joint fluid, and then after that, just joint fluid. After the second one, they said, ‘It’s a good sign.’
If it was bleeding then I would need surgery to stop the bleeding. But with just joint fluid, it means my knee was inflamed and that’s your body’s way of bringing that down. But I’ve had a needle the size of my pinkie finger going under my kneecap about thirteen times now.
Four talents have already advanced out of the first round of the New Japan Cup. To catch up on the results, click here.
