Tomohiro Ishii appeared to suffer an injury at last night’s AEW Dynamite in Sacramento, California. If the injury a) is legit, and b) is severe, it could alter a couple of upcoming NJPW events.

During a match on last night’s show pitting Ishii and Orange Cassidy against Gabe Kidd and Clark Connors (both of whom are on the NJPW roster as of today), Ishii came up lame after bumping for a lariat by Kidd, gripping the back of his left leg. Ishii being Ishii, he managed to power through and finish the match, pinning Connors with a brainbuster, but he needed assistance to exit the ring. It appeared at first glance to be a hamstring injury, and the severity of hamstring injuries can vary wildly.

Now, Ishii has a couple of somewhat important matches coming up. Next Friday, he is scheduled to defend his STRONG Openweight Championship at The New Beginning USA in Trenton, New Jersey, against Boltin Oleg. Since the match has been announced, if Ishii can’t go, NJPW tradition typically would dictate that he forfeit the title, and either Boltin is declared champion or the title is left vacant until a new match can be made. We’re kind of putting the cart before the horse here, but if Ishii can’t go, these are the likely outcomes.

Ishii is also scheduled to participate in the New Japan Cup tournament, although his first match isn’t until March 12 in Kagawa against the winner of the first round match between his Team 100 partner, Taichi, and Ren Narita. Hopefully, he’ll be okay to go by then.