SANADA Reveals He Had Been Dealing With Scalenus Syndrome Since 2024, Had To Use Guitar In Matches Because He Couldn’t Fully Use His Arm

SANADA is back in the mix.

For the first time since January 2026, SANADA is going to be in action for New Japan Pro-Wrestling. He is scheduled to challenge Konosuke Takeshita for the World Television Championship at Dominion on June 14th.

Going into the bout, NJPW released a mini-documentary centered around SANADA’s time away from the ring. It was revealed that he had been dealing with scalenus syndrome since January 2024.

He suffered a chest/neck injury during the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 18, where he dropped the IWGP Heavyweight Championship to Tetsuya Naito. SANADA performed a moonsault, and his arm planted awkwardly.

SANADA went on to state that during his run before the hiatus, he had to use guitars in matches because he did not have complete control of his arm.

“It’s been bad since Tokyo Dome 2024, and it got worse these last six months. It was hard just brushing my teeth, or washing my hair. Crazy, I wrestled and won too.

It’s called scalenus syndrome. The chest and neck compresses all the blood vessels and the muscle just atrophy. The arm is so skinny. You can see the bone. Everyone wondering why if I can wrestle, I was using guitars in my matches. A lot of people asked, but truth is I couldn’t use my arm. So I was just using what I could use.”

The full lineup for Dominion 2026 can be viewed here.

If the quotes in this article are used, please credit Fightful for the transcription.