HENARE Opens About Knee Injury That Sidelined Him Since December 2024: “The Tendons That Hold Your Kneecap On Just Ripped Off”

HENARE opens up about his injury.

At NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20, HENARE returned to in-ring action after being sidelined since December 2024. He went down with a knee injury at the backend of the World Tag League tour.

HENARE opened up about the knee injury while chatting with NJPW1972.com and revealed the exact nature of the injury.

“Basically what happened was the tendons that hold your kneecap on just ripped off. I’d hurt it, and then, I was in there with Tetsuya Naito and he was trying to win the match obviously, so he kept on it. Just ripped what was left of those tendons off when he put a hold on, and as stubborn as I was, I kept fighting…

I did (walk to the back after the injury). I figured that I had just sprained it. But my kneecap was right up where my quad was. The trainers backstage took one look and went, ‘Oh, maybe there’s no more tendon here,’ and that was that. The patella tendons are twice as thick as the Achilles that I’d injured before, so that speaks to the severity of it.”

HENARE was in the 2026 New Japan Cup tournament, but was bounced in his first match by Oleg Boltin.