New Men's WWE Intercontinental Champion Penta Reveals Unexpected Injury Status

Penta is the new Men's Intercontinental Champion after having endured years of sacrifice and pain to finally reach such a major milestone.

After five unsuccessful attempts, Penta defeated Dominik Mysterio this past Monday night on Raw to win his first singles title in WWE. Whether Danhausen's curse on Dirty Dom moments before the match had anything to do with it or not, the veteran Luchador is taking his victory laps.

Penta was a guest this week on No Contest Wrestling with O'Shea Jackson Jr. and TJ Jefferson, and he spoke about how much the win meant to both himself and his supporters.

It's PENTA TIME 🔥@PENTAELZEROM defeats Dominik Mysterio and is the new Intercontinental Champion! pic.twitter.com/V9khbIr1ra
— WWE (@WWE) March 3, 2026

Penta on winning the title

“The most important thing, I want to say thank you. Thank you to my family, thank you to my friends, thank you to my company and thank you to everyone who believed in me, because this is very important. And thank you to myself, because I believed in [myself] every single day to achieve this title."

It took Penta nearly two decades to get to WWE. He debuted with the company in January of 2025 and was almost instantly a hit with fans. Winning the Men's Intercontinental Championship over a year later is the ultimate thank you to those who have been with him since day one.

"This title represent all those people who never give up, because Penta represent all those people. Penta represent the dreamers. Penta represent the fighters," He said. "I think this is the most important thing, because this title is not just for Penta. It’s for all those people.”

Penta is still wrestling with a pretty significant injury

It's no secret that professional wrestlers are just built different, but Penta revealed in February 2025 that he had been working with a torn bicep for years and he confirmed to Jackson and Jefferson that he's still working through it today.

“This injury was like, maybe, I don’t remember exactly. Four, five years ago? Something like that. I don’t remember who gave me a kick. One kick in my chest... basically, he broke my tendon from the shoulder to the bicep," Penta said.

Penta was sidelined last December with a shoulder injury, but was able to work his way back through rehab. When asked how he feels now, Penta said he has no issues because he's the Intercontinental Champion.

“Now, no matter. I’m f---ing glad. Because the gold is on my shoulder brother. The gold is in Mexico right now. No matter what happen with my body, I don’t care. This is most important.”