Booking can sometimes have to react fast and abruptly when it comes to injuries often leading to title changes l, different stars getting pushed and the occasional dropped storyline. This happened Shibata in 2017, Hiromu in 2018 and the cursed year of 2021.There have been 5 significant injuries to NJPW stars this year, now how drastically has that affected the booking and plans for this year.
Henare: He suffered a major injury during the dog pound steel cage. I am not sure how significantly he would have weighed into the agents over UE’s new leader/captain, he probably wouldn’t have taken a leading role here. What is most likely was that he was probably set to rematch Kidd in the first round of the NJC.
Coughlin: He has had his career halted by a persistent neck injury. Again, I don’t think this changed much but his spot in the NJC was likely taken by Oleg and his spot on team Kidd will likely be replaced by a different BC member.
Tanahashi: The Ace’s injury took him out of his match with Nemeth at Sakura Genesis. This may have not halted much but for some reason Nemeth’s match with Ishii at Windy City Riot is non-title. I wonder if that has anything to do with it.
Finlay: His injury in the NJC was sudden and we never will know the original plans for how the cup would have shaken out. Would Finlay have won if not made the final? was Tsuji meant to win? How far would Goto have gone?
Wato: This one potentially has had the biggest impact. Would SHO have won the title if Wato stayed healthy? Perhaps but I was predicting Despy to challenge Wato at some point to test him. But then again YOH seems to have just become Wato’s substitute.
by shecanbromehard
