El Desperado Drops Out Of Super Jr. Tag League Due To Injury

The Super Junior Tag League will be without one of its biggest names, but his replacement is already lined up.

El Desperado announced on Wednesday that he will be forced to miss this year’s Super Jr. Tag League after he was diagnosed with a spinal canal stenosis and a hernia. The 42-year-old was originally going to team with his fellow Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champion, the one and only Mistico, during the tournament starting on Saturday.

In a video he released on YouTube, translated via NJPW1972.com, the masked superstar made this announcement.

“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.”

-El Desperado

Despy has been one of NJPW’s greatest workhorses so far this decade, having only missed a long span of time only once back in 2024. Since 2020, he’s won IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship five times and the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championships twice, including right now. He’s also won both the Best of the Super Juniors as well as the Super Jr. Tag League.

Luckily for NJPW fans, Despy’s planned partner for this competition, the aforementioned Mistico, will be competing with a replacement, that being Masatora Yasuda.

“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. Right now, (Shoma) Kato and (Katsuya) Murashima are on excursion. It’s a vital time for a young wrestler to not just gain experience in the ring, but in life and living in a variety of environments. When they come back, maybe it will be Yasuda and (Daiki) Nagai’s turn to go, and I don’t know when that might be. But from just an in ring perspective, Nagai has been able to get semi and main event bookings through being in Unbound Co., while Yasuda hasn’t had as many chances. So I want to give Yasuda this opportunity to team alongside a global megastar like Mistico, and to see what he can make of this spot. In the past, Yasuda was critical on social media of a Young Lion being put into Best of the Super Jr. Talking to him at the time, I understood how much value he put in the brand and the significance of a BOSJ entry. I thought he was being a pain in the ass, but at the same time I liked that he felt that strongly about it. Maybe this leaves him a little conflicted. I understand how he feels, but at the same time, if you have an opportunity dangling in front of you in your career, you’re wrong not to seize it, and I want him to seize something by teaming with Mistico in this series. And don’t worry about Mistico. Even with his partner like this, he’ll show up for the fans like Mistico always does. I have complete trust in him.”

-El Desperado

It’s always exciting to see a young lion take that next step into wrestling with the rest of the roster, even if the circumstances surrounding his inclusion aren’t the best. Of course, this will force people who preview this tournament to adjust their expectations for a team with Mistico on it, but at the very least this tournament will be a wonderful learning experience for Yasuda. The 27-year-old began his career in 2024 and has not even had his excursion yet, which is customary for any young lion except for Daiki Nagai.

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As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on the Super Jr. Tag League as soon as we hear more.