The “Stone Pitbull” will miss out on this year’s New Japan Cup.
Tomohiro Ishii has been pulled from NJPW’s annual single-elimination tournament due to a neck injury, the promotion announced on Tuesday. He is also expected to miss the entire tour because of the injury, ruling him out until late March.
Ishii was planning to begin his tournament run as part of a March 12 show next week, facing the winner of an opening round bout between Taichi and Ren Narita. Taking his place will be fellow vet Satoshi Kojima, who will be competing in his first New Japan Cup since 2022.
50-year-old Ishii was scheduled to come back to Japan this month after a brief excursion in the United States. After back-to-back appearances on AEW TV last month, Ishii dropped his STRONG Openweight Championship to Boltin Oleg at NJPW’s New Beginning USA card in Trenton, New Jersey on Friday.
In a testament to Ishii’s place as a consistent workhorse in NJPW, the news means he will be missing his first New Japan Cup since 2015. Overall he has competed in the tournament 17 times.
