This Saturday, during Night One of New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s Wrestling Kingdom 14 event, Tetsuya Naito gets his opportunity at reclaiming the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. He faces Bullet Club leader Jay White for the gold.
Despite his Double Gold Dash opportunity, the Los Ingobernables de Japon leader revealed in an interview with njpw1972.com that for approximately six months he considered ending his wrestling career.
“I don’t want to go into specifics, but for a while, I thought I couldn’t wrestle anymore,” Naito stated. “Truth is for about six months, maybe since May, I had this kind of crisis of confidence.”
He continued, “From about May, I’d felt something was up, and I couldn’t put my finger on it. I thought I could cover it up, but I think the result was that it did come through. I was constantly wrestling in that state of unease. I hate going to the hospital, but I really wasn’t myself for a time.”
Tetsuya Naito’s Mental Strain
Reflecting on that time, Naito compared his mindset to having an injury. He noted how “things don’t get back to 100%”. When it comes to this particular issue he’s managed to recover thanks to some time off. He stressed that, 100% or not, he felt he was close to zero due to the mental strain, believing he might not be able to get into a ring again.
If successful in his match against White, Naito would go on to compete against the IWGP Heavyweight Champion on Night Two of Wrestle Kingdom 14. Kazuchika Okada and Kota Ibush clash for that title on Night One.
Wrestle Kingdom 14 takes place this weekend on 1/4 and 1/5 from the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan.
