18 Biggest Wrestling Stories Of 2017

In April, one of New Japan Pro Wrestling's biggest stars Katsuyori Shibata suffered a subdural hematoma after delivering a brutal headbutt to Kazuchika Okada. Shortly after the match, the 37 year-old collapsed, and was quickly brought to hospital for emergency brain surgery. The veteran wrestler was said to be paralysed down his right side, as well as experiencing numbness in his limbs and difficulty seeing. Though a second surgery helped alleviate some of these problems, it looked for certain as though his wrestling career was over.

As the months passed, Shibata was said to be recovering well, apparently responding to electrotherapy far better than his doctors had thought possible. With progress far outstripping expectation, talk of a return to the ring arose - something deemed impossible in the wake of the injury. The grappler himself was more than eager to step back between the ropes, noting that he'd thought of nothing but wrestling his whole life.

Japanese wrestling's hard-hitting style has had many casualties, some of them fatal; Plum Mariko and Mitsuharu Misawa both died as a consequence of years of blows to the head and neck. Ultimately, it was the culmination of blows to the head which caused Shibata's serious injury, the butt against Okada pushing him just over the edge. As difficult as he might find the call of the ring to resist, here's hoping he does so, and that responsible wrestling promoters don't rush to book him just for a quick payday.