El Phantasmo wasn’t seen on Thursday’s NJPW card due to a knee injury, the promotion announced.
While expected to compete in a six-man tag bout in the main event of the second “New Japan Soul” show of the year out in Aomori, Japan, the promotion unveiled just before the event that he hadn’t been cleared to compete due to a “right knee injury.”
El Phantasmo has sustained a right knee injury and has not been cleared to compete tonight.
Tonight's main event will see Tomoaki Honma replace ELP against TMDK.#njpw #njsoul pic.twitter.com/LAJxX2VOeJ
— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) June 19, 2025
Phantasmo was replaced by Tomoaki Honma, who teamed with Hirooki Goto & Yuya Uemura to defeat TMDK’s Zack Sabre Jr., Ryohei Oiwa and Hartley Jackson.
It’s currently unclear if the injury Phantasmo suffered will keep him away for an extended period of time, or if the setback was simply something that will force him to be benched for just a day or two.
Phantasmo remains on NJPW’s upcoming schedule, including a card this Saturday in Yamagata, possibly suggesting that his knee issue isn’t too severe. He also currently mains part of the lineup for the upcoming G1 Climax, which is set to begin in a month.
Phantasmo has been an active talent for NJPW since 2019, first debuting as a junior before moving up to the heavyweight class. He’s currently on his second run as the NJPW World Television Champion.
