In a recent interview with New Japan Pro Wrestling’s official website, Tetsuya Naito discussed several topics, including how he considered calling an end to his career last year.
“I don’t want to go into specifics, but for a while, I thought I couldn’t wrestle anymore. Truth is, for about six months, maybe since May, I had this kind of crisis of confidence. From about May, I’d felt something was up and I couldn’t put my finger on it, I thought I could cover it up, but I think the result was that it did come through. I was constantly wrestling in that state of unease, I hate going to the hospital, but I really wasn’t myself for a time. It’s like any injury and I’ve had bad knees for a while, things don’t get back to 100%, but when it comes to this issue I’ve had, I’ve managed to recover well enough during the time off, bear in mind, 100% or not, I came pretty damn close to zero.”
The interview is available in full at this link.