Rei Saito Will Miss Triple Crown Title Opportunity Due To Dislocated Shoulder

By: Lewis Carlan

All Japan Pro-Wrestling confirmed the bad news that was feared concerning Rei Saito. Saito has been diagnosed with a dislocated right shoulder and will be forced to miss his upcoming Triple Crown Title opportunity against Katsuhiko Nakajima on February 20th. Saito will have to miss the entire Excite Series 2024 tour due to his injury. Rei’s brother Jun Saito will be replacing him and is now the challenger Nakajima will face for the Triple Crown Championship.

In addition, Rei & Jun Saito had to vacate the AJPW World Tag Team Titles they have held since October 2023. The two brothers were set to defend the titles against Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi on February 25th at Kyoto KBS Hall. There has been no word, as of this writing, if another team will be inserted into the match and face Miyahara & Aoyagi to determine new champions.

【欠場及び王座返上のお知らせ】

斉藤レイ選手が2.9後楽園大会の試合中に負傷し「右肩関節脱臼」と診断されたため「エキサイトシリーズ2024」全試合を欠場致します。

また、斉藤ジュン選手&斉藤レイ選手が保持する世界タッグ王座返上も決定致しました。

詳細はこちらhttps://t.co/gIOOMZOcQq… pic.twitter.com/2es8DfTPJ1

— 全日本プロレス/alljapan (@alljapan_pw) February 11, 2024

Rei Saito dislocated his right shoulder on February 9th at the “70 Years of Pro-Wrestling” event at Korakuen Hall. It is believed the dislocation occurred following a bodypress by Saito onto Saxon Huxley during a tag team encounter. Saito apologized to the fans who were looking forward to his Triple Crown Title and World Tag Team Title matches. Jun Saito added that while it’s frustrating that they had to give up the World Tag Team Titles, he will now be the one to hand Nakajima a crushing defeat and win the Triple Crown Championship.