Katsuyori Shibata is set to end his in-ring hiatus.
Shibata suffered a life-threatening injury back in April 2017. He took on Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Sakura Genesis. The match was a classic but Shibata injured himself after connecting with a headbutt.
Okada won the match and Shibata ended up collapsing backstage. He was rushed to the hospital and needed to undergo emergency surgery for a subdural hematoma. It’s believed that an accumulation of headbutts, which Shibata had used as a signature, was the culprit.
Katsuyori Shibata Returns At Wrestle Kingdom 16
Katsuyori Shibata has been trying to make an in-ring comeback and he will get his wish on Jan. 4, 2022. On the final day of the World Tag League and Best of the Super Juniors, Shibata announced that he will wrestle on night one of Wrestle Kingdom 16.
It looked as if Shibata would never wrestle again but he has tested the waters since his head injury. Back in summer 2019, Shibata attacked KENTA for turning on his LA Dojo young lions.
He even took bumps from the Bullet Club members but nothing was aimed at his head.
Shibata then shocked the wrestling world on the final day of the G1 Climax 31 tournament. He had a surprise UWF rules exhibition grappling match with Zack Sabre Jr. The match went to a five-minute draw.
At this time, there is no word on who Shibata’s opponent will be at Wrestle Kingdom 16.