Shota Umino Reveals How Serious His Concussion Was and Vows To Make A Comeback

By: Lewis Carlan

When the New Japan Pro-Wrestling G1 Climax 36 kicked off in Chicago, Shota Umino had been marked as one of the favorites to win the tournament. Umino was placed in the B Block and faced Zack Sabre Jr. in his first tournament bout.

Umino was defeated by Sabre Jr. and unfortunately he was pulled from the tournament after being diagnosed with a concussion which occurred during the course of his opening G1 Climax 36 match. Naturally, Umino was frustrated having to being removed from the G1 tournament and apologized to the fans.

Shota Umino spoke with Tokyo Sports recently and revealed just how serious the concussion he suffered in that match with Sabre Jr. actually was. Umino indicated that he battled memory loss and would vomit in the middle of the night due to the severity of the concussion.

From Shota Umino:

“Before I knew it, I was in a hotel bed, and I don’t even remember how I got back from the arena. Even after returning to Japan, I would vomit in the middle of the night, and the doctor diagnosed me with a concussion and amnesia. Since I had already been dealing with accumulated damage, I think that’s why it became so severe.”

Umino has given assurance that he is now 150% healthy after suffering the concussion and is ready to make his comeback inside a NJPW ring.

From Shota Umino:

“I’m 150% healthy. It’s a sport where there’s always the risk of it happening again, but right now, I want to show everyone as soon as possible that I’m back in good health—that I’m staging a comeback from the very back of the pack. I keep telling myself that I’ll get back up no matter how many times I fall.”

Back on June 14th, Umino won his first singles title when he became the IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion. His reign lasted only 22 days as he lost the belt to Gabe Kidd on July 6th. Umino has vowed to target the IWGP Global Heavyweight Title in an effort to reclaim what was once his.

Kidd will defend the IWGP Global Title against Drilla Moloney at DESTRUCTION in KOBE on Sept. 27th and Umino hopes to get to challenge the winner of that bout.

From Shota Umino:

“Obviously, I can’t step in and interrupt this one. But I want to make sure people don’t forget that I was there. I want to show everyone my energetic self at every venue, and as a result, I want to improve my physical condition and build anticipation so that I can earn another shot at the title.”

While his return bout has not yet been officially announced, fans can expect to see Umino back competing in the near future.

(All English quote translations via Deepl.com)