PWInsider.com is reporting that New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Katsuyori Shibata has been pulled from the upcoming NJPW tour dates. Shibata was hospitalized for a subdural hematoma that was caused by a nasty headbutt during his match with IWGP Champion Kazuchika Okada.

Source: http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/826825-njpws-katsuyori-shibata-hospitalized-from-headbutt-which-raw-superstar-would-you-like-to-see-on-sd-live

Damn. Praying for Tajiri. One of my favorite wrestlers all time. Loved him when he managed Yokozuna back in the day. It's amazing how it feels when one of your childhood favorites is put in danger...like an atomic bomb going off where my heart is.

That's a nasty injury. Hopefully he recovers from that and is back to the ring again. Praying for him

I know exactly what headbutt it was that fucked him up. He literally busted himself open the hard way with it. Hope everything turns out fine, what a fucking brutal match.

When I saw that headbutt I literally had to rewind and watch again to check for funny business, I wasn't sure how he could have done that safely. Guess he didn't. Reports seem to be that he has already had surgery and is in recovery, which is good. But sadly I won't be holding my breath for a return. The reality is that this is a serious brain injury many degrees more serious than (most) concussions and the like. And bear in mind, in this line of work he probably does have some sort of concussion history to make matters worse. Even if he is eventually cleared, I don't think I'd be comfortable seeing him in the ring again. Fingers crossed he hangs in there and that this isn't something life altering beyond wrestling.

It is such a shame because he is clearly such a talented guy and he put on an amazing match. It literally had me thinking how stacked with talent their roster really is and how they'd probably be fine if say Kenny jumped ship to WWE. Between Tanahashi, Okada, Naito, Shibata and anyone else they have waiting in the wings that I just don't know enough about, they'd probably still have the best main event picture in wrestling right now. But I think the lesson is that you can't take these guys for granted. 

My one criticism of NJPW, and it pains me to say it, is that from what I have seen they appear to be rather blasé when it comes to head bumps. You have Honma pulling diving headbutts all the time (admiteddly nothing to do with his own recent injury). We saw the dragon superplex at Wrestle Kingdom, which is a spot that I never want to see attempted again. Now this headbutt. And it's not even the first time Shibata has done it. I've seen the footage of him busting himself open in much the same way against Nakajima. Obviously I'm going by a small sample and I don't know how representative this is of NJPW as a whole. But it seems to me that they need to be more careful about protecting their guys. For all his flaws, Vince has done the right thing in regards to head bumps at WWE.

Drastik wrote:

Damn. Praying for Tajiri. One of my favorite wrestlers all time. Loved him when he managed Yokozuna back in the day. It's amazing how it feels when one of your childhood favorites is put in danger...like an atomic bomb going off where my heart is.

I was hospitalized after this comment lmao 

Shibata died for our since. Go to the Misawa in the sky.

For those who don't already know, Meltzer says Shibata's hospitalization was an angle, possibly to cover up for something else. We've been worked, boys.

I've been bamboozled, but I'm seriously happy about it.

RoViper wrote:

For those who don't already know, Meltzer says Shibata's hospitalization was an angle, possibly to cover up for something else. We've been worked, boys.

Considering how fucking hard Shibata has been going, I would probably guess to give him a tour or two to recover from the minor injuries...

RoViper wrote:

For those who don't already know, Meltzer says Shibata's hospitalization was an angle, possibly to cover up for something else. We've been worked, boys.

Latest reports are claiming that Shibata's injuries are real and very bad, and that he will never be cleared to wrestle again.

Hope it's not true, very sorry for his loss if it is. Pray for him boys and girls.

RoViper wrote:

Latest reports are claiming that Shibata's injuries are real and very bad, and that he will never be cleared to wrestle again.

GOD DAMNIT. STOP TOYING WITH MY EMOTIONS.

RoViper wrote:

Latest reports are claiming that Shibata's injuries are real and very bad, and that he will never be cleared to wrestle again.

Damn.

Even Meltzer is saying now that Shibata is still in the hospital and will probably never be cleared again. 

RoViper wrote:

Latest reports are claiming that Shibata's injuries are real and very bad, and that he will never be cleared to wrestle again.

ffs Robbie

Methuselah wrote:

I know exactly what headbutt it was that fucked him up. He literally busted himself open the hard way with it. Hope everything turns out fine, what a fucking brutal match.

 I highly doubt he'll make a return anytime soon if at all mostly because my mom has suffered this same injury as well and it took about a year for everything to fully heal and she admits that she doesn't really feel the same post surgery at all. She deals with memory loss all the time when she bumped her head on a desk while she was cleaning. But hopefully Shibata will be alright. But this may very well be his last match.

Good news, NJPW's Medical Trainer gave an update on Shibata's condition:

As for Shibata, his original condition was considered to be life threatening. However, after follow up operations he has now been moved to the general ward. While he currently has no trouble walking and talking, it is impossible to comment right now on any possible after-effects due to his condition. He is currently focused on being discharged from the hospital, so he asks for everyone to “send your shouts of support.”

Robbie V wrote:

Good news, NJPW's Medical Trainer gave an update on Shibata's condition:

As for Shibata, his original condition was considered to be life threatening. However, after follow up operations he has now been moved to the general ward. While he currently has no trouble walking and talking, it is impossible to comment right now on any possible after-effects due to his condition. He is currently focused on being discharged from the hospital, so he asks for everyone to “send your shouts of support.”

It really sucks that a spot that could have been avoided and wasn't necessary potentially ended his career. I am happy for him and his family that he seems to be doing better in general. Crazy... Sending warm vibes his way.