Former Champion Recalls Suffering An Injury Against Claudio Castagnoli

A former champion has recalled nearly suffering an injury against Claudio Castagnoli.

Since Ring of Honor has relaunched their weekly programming on Honor Club, the company has regularly featured talent from New Japan Pro Wrestling.

On the May 4 episode of ROH TV, former IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Robbie Eagles faced ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli. Eagles lost the bout and went on to compete in NJPW’s Best of Super Juniors tournament, but he walked away from the match with much more than suffering a loss.

Speaking on Keepin’ It Strong Style, Eagles recalled hurting his shoulder against Castagnoli and believed he would have to be pulled from the Best of Super Juniors. He said:

“I just want to point out that I started with tape in the tournament, and then I progressed down to no tape… and that was a mental strategy because I could tell people were eyeing up my shoulder and being like ‘Something’s not right with Robbie on that shoulder.’”

“They’re correct because I wrestled Claudio Castagnoli for Ring of Honor about a week before I went to Super Juniors, and I actually almost tore my AC joint, so I had a pretty bad injury going into Super Juniors, and I was like, I might have to tap out of the tournament, but physiotherapists in Australia were great, and the trainers in New Japan taped up nice enough, and then it was almost like subterfuge, like I was goading people into thinking that my shoulder was worse than it was.”

“By match three, there was no tape, and people were trying to, ‘Oh, is he still hurt? Should I go after his shoulder? What should I do?’ So it made them start second-guessing their own strategy. So I’m just pulling back the curtain for you a little bit there.”

Transcription via Fightful

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