New Japan Pro Wrestling has confirmed that Juice Robinson has been stripped of the IWGP United States Championship ahead of Sunday’s Dominion PPV.
The now-former champion was first pulled from Best of Super Junior Finals at the Nippon Budokan last week because of appendicitis. He was supposed to take on Tomoaki Honma at the show.
The Japanese wrestling promotion then announced late Friday that the Bullet Club member is being stripped of the US title because of his inability to compete:
Robinson was scheduled to defend the championship against Will Ospreay and SANADA in a triple threat match at the Dominion PPV.
NJPW has confirmed that the PPV will now see Orpreay and SANADA going up against each other for the vacant title instead.
It’s unclear at this time if the announcement is fully storyline-based or if there is an element of reality to it. Robinson has gone the extra mile as of late when attempting to blur the lines between what is fact and what is fiction, including a recent announcement involving his contract at NJPW. The former IWGP US Champion claimed that his contract with the company had expired and he was looking into opportunities elsewhere for the time being.
Juice Robinson had only returned to NJPW during Wrestling Dontaku on May 1. He won the US championship a couple weeks later in a four-way match at Capital Collision. The match saw him defeat Hiroshi Tanahashi, Will Ospreay, and Jon Moxley.
The video released by NJPW indicates that the American pro wrestler will require surgery. There is no word on how long he is expected to stay out of action. We will keep you posted on his condition.
