Injury Rules El Desperado Out of NJPW Super Jr. Tag League 2026, Replacement Announced

El Desperado has been ruled out of the NJPW Super Junior Tag League 2026 due to injury.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling announced on Thursday, October 22, that one-half of the current IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions, El Desperado, has been diagnosed with spinal canal stenosis and a hernia.

El Desperado and Mistico were originally drawn in Block A. However, with the former having been ruled out, Mistico will now team with NJPW Young Lion Masatora Yasuda.

“El Desperado, who was scheduled to wrestle through the Super Jr. Tag League tour that begins Saturday in Saitama, will be unable to compete due to a diagnosis of spinal canal stenosis and a hernia. We apologize to fans who were looking forward to seeing Desperado compete and appreciate your understanding,” NJPW wrote.

Desperado said his body has reached its limit and apologized to fans. No timeline is currently set for his return. Here’s what he said:

“My sincerest apologies, but I will not be appearing at Super Jr. Tag League. I’m currently dealing with spinal canal stenosis and a hernia. My left leg has no strength, and with the pain and pins and needles, I’m currently unable to stand, walk, or even sit upright for long periods of time. From the start of this year I’d noticed some strange sensations in my left glute, and there was some tingling in my legs from around March. At that point I expressed to the company that I was having some symptoms but that I had no issues with strength or anything like that and asked to continue wrestling while staying in contact with the medical and training staff.

“The pain started coming around June, and the last couple of months, I would be waking up around 4AM in pain with my left leg. I started taking painkillers after meals but was still able to wrestle that way, and as I tend to think, I figured I could get through to the end of the year. I said I could still wrestle, but I was taking the issue far too lightly. My body had reached its limits. My apologies, again.

“For this Super Jr. Tag League, Mistico was scheduled to wrestle with me, and we can’t just send him back with nothing to say for it, so I have chosen (Masatora) Yasuda to replace me. Some of you might think ‘with your connections you can come up with a bigger name than a Young Lion,’ but I’d like for you to think of this as a key step to the future of NJPW.”

Below is the updated field:

Block A:

-> Mistico & Masatora Yasuda
-> Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X
-> Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI
-> Ryusuke Taguchi & Kazuma Sumi
-> Master Wato & KUUKAI
-> KUSHIDA & Nick Wayne

Block B:

-> Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita
-> YOH & Hyo
-> Francesco Akira & Jakob Austin Young
-> Titan & Daiki Nagai
-> SHO & Dick Togo
-> Blake Christian & Lee Johnson

The tournament will get underway in Saitama, Japan, on October 24. The top scorers from each Block will battle in the final at NJPW Power Struggle on November 3.