So, with the stuff that happened with Aussie Open being signed by AEW it makes me wonder what will happen when AEW put on these shows and TK notice how some of the talents are over and become interested in them.
Is it not a big risk that once NJPW related wrestlers, specially the non-Japanese ones, come overseas and show that they can draw TK will offer them deals that they can’t refuse?
Does NJPW earn so much from these joint events and the “cooperation” overall that it makes it worth the risk of having all their best Gaijin talent being bought by AEW?
I know what the AEW fans feel about this, but what is the opinion of those of you who consider yourself NJPW fans first and foremost?
20 comments
With how stale certain matches are becoming, evident by the drastic changes in faction affiliation….I think any chance to interact with other promotions/talent is good for the industry and both companies.
The more synergy that can happen between the ‘other’ companies the more the industry develops outside of a Sports Entertainment focus.
TK is respectful enough of NJPW and the working relationship that they have that I’m sure there was a conversation about Aussie Open before signing. Most likely we will still see them in Tag League and infrequent NJPW events going forward.
Tony is not going to destroy a relationship with a company that is so engrained in respect.
I really couldn’t give a flying fuck about US wrestling. I work like a gazillion hours a day. I do not have the time to follow US wrestling. So for me personally it overall hurts the product. That’s for me personally others well ymmv
Business wise it’s self evident that it’s still valuable to new japan. The share in the take for FD was specifically mentioned in bushiroads financial write up last year.
I think this sub needs to have a genuine discussion on financials because both new japan and stardom fans in the English speaking space seemed to be living in some kind of fantasy land where bushiroad isn’t struggling to turn a profit from wrestling right now. It’s actually getting ridiculous to see some of the takes posted here. People can go check out BR financial results on their website. It’s not like they are in dire straights or anything but operations were hurt by the pandemic. In particular profitability from wrestling. I was reading an article just yesterday where ohbari essentially said they are heading towards their second best year ever in revenue but while gates are down they struggle to make a profit because ticket sales are the most profitable aspect of their business. 2023 has seen an increase in gates but they still have some way to go to reach 2019 levels.
So the overall question is moot. New Japan is very good at making talent look good. Tony Khan has a lot of money to spend and is intent on accruing talent. Forbidden door or not njpw talent will always look tasty because new japan are very good at cooking so to speak.
While njpw struggles with profitability they will struggle to retain western talent. It doesn’t really matter about the Forbidden door. What matters is gates increasing to help njpw make some fucking money. That will bring contracts and all the stuff fans want.
Personally speaking as a Fan who is mainly interested in the Japanese part of the product it has been a net negative so far for me.
There are things that I enjoyed that resulted out of it but the bad outweighs the good, at least for me.
It’s definitely good for the company. The amount of good will wax and wane,much like the amount of good working with RoH varied. But the money is good and the amount of knowledge and interest from western fans definitely went up after FD1.
I hope they make good money from it because otherwise it’s entirely negative in my eyes.
I’d imagine the money is good though.
I think it’s fun and entertaining, and that’s all that matters. I like seeing the Japanese wrestlers go outside of their New Japan bubble and interact with different talent.
Lots of people saying it’s hurting NJPW but I think it helps NJPW’s US expansion a lot tbh. I don’t really see how last years Forbidden Door hurt New Japan with how much of an overall success the event was. Now if NJPW was taking a month out of the schedule to build towards the event by bringing in American wrestlers that the audience doesn’t know than that’d be different but so far it doesn’t really seem to be that way. Plus we’re probably getting Osprey vs Omega and Okada vs Mox!?!? How is this bad for NJPW ahh 😭 but imo I think it benefits Strong in the long run more than anything
That door handle seems to be on the wrong side…
Forbidden Door and being involved in AEW in general is the biggest advertisment for NJPW western shows that NJPW can really get at this point. Not to mention the cash that helps the company.
What are the negatives exactly? One or two of the *thirteen* active titles goes away for a little bit? They get booked a little bit weaker than AEW sometimes? Doesn’t seem like enough negatives to me compared to regularly getting to be involved with stuff on one of the biggest cable shows in the United States.
Granted I don’t think everytihng with this involvement has been 100% a home run but the positives for the company outweigh the negtives imo.
From a fan perspective it’s good to see two promotions who have great talent collide And that bring the match quality and intruige go up for fans and even brings in new fans to either promotion.
From a business perspective, it helps with the exposure to some extent since new Japan don’t have the pull like aew has in the US with a TV deal. And this is just for new Japan to attract some western fans because they don’t have that on their own without another promotion.
New Japan won’t have much pull when their is a lack of Gaijin stars in the mix.
And
New Japan are a ticket sales orientated company and FD does big numbers both at the gate and the PPV buys. Hopefully now that ROH is more going again there will be more crossover and things of actual benefit to New Japan, it’s fairly one sided at the moment but that’s how it is when one company is larger and has more cash, I wonder if it would have been different if they had formed the partnership at the start.
If it was a partnership with WWE and they signed away Juice, Jay, and Aussie Open in a year people would be screaming the evils of the fed empire
NJPW at the very least needs to pull their talent from ROH – no more free scouting of NJPW talent for TK. See you at FD but otherwise fuck off.
It’s overall been a major net negative for New Japan. The only noteworthy benefits they’ve received have been an Omega match at WK and a share of the gate and buys from the crossover PPV(s). In exchange, they’ve had top talent (Jay), promising talent (Aussie Open), and key midcarders (Juice, Baretta) poached, and they’ve devalued their product and talent in the eyes of American fans by having them appear and frequently lose on AEW shows.
Whoring themselves out to AEW for cash injections from crossover PPVs isn’t going to be as attractive to NJPW in a few years once the domestic gates get back up to 2019 levels and the cash reserves can be replenished. So the question becomes what benefits can AEW provide New Japan going forward. Advertising New Japan World and Strong shows on AEW television would help, but Khan hasn’t lifted a finger to do that yet despite it being a very low effort give. Other than Omega or Punk, there’s no one AEW has who’d boost New Japan gates in the US or Japan, and Khan hasn’t let Omega make regular appearances so far. If Moxley can’t draw in either Japan or the US for New Japan, then Bryan Danielson or Cesaro sure as hell aren’t. AEW has no value in an excursion destination given the roster bloat and lack of live events.
The exposure argument is so tired and disproven at this point too. Impact saw no long term boost to live gates or ratings following their AEW partnership, and so far, New Japan hasn’t either. The question AEW fans who parrot this talking point can never answer is how does New Japan benefit from exposure when Khan never advertises their products and events when New Japan guys appear on TV?
I think long term it’ll hurt them more especially when they lose Will Osprey to Aew i rather they focus more on partnering with Impact .
It puts more American eyes on the Japanese product. This raises the NJPW awareness and can lead to better media deals and increased revenue. It also allows for increased fantasy booking for the AEW roster. Depending on revenue split for the live show, it might benefit NJPW more in the long term than AEW – not to imply that AEW is getting a bad deal at all.
Will Ospreay is their GOAT
He shouldn’t be losing to jackass death match dickhead Mosley
Cesaro beating Zack lowered his stock
New Japan shouldn’t be sending their people to job to a promotion whose Booker couldn’t make a good storyline to save his life
Can’t convince me it’s done anything for New Japan in the US.
More opportunities and more money for more wrestlers is good for wrestling as a whole, period.
They getting big money from this
So what some titles goes for a while ?
1. Western wrestlers will leave no matter which partnership happens, it’s either AEW or WWE and i’m glad AEW is there because guys like Juice, Mark and Fletcher are active in NJPW Strong or future Japan shows, so to me that’s fine. I don’t want them to end up in WWE, simply because I don’t watch WWE
2. This is 100% a western thing, people like [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/njpw/comments/13rfk76/the_forbidden_door_who_is_it_good_for/jlkvnki/) exist in a vacuum, and while I do understand that the wrestling online communities only want to bitch, moan, complain and insult others, I don’t really believe these people matter in the grand scope of things. People that do matter are the NJPW fans in Japan, and wrestling fans in the West that will start to watch NJPW because they saw Forbidden Door, or because they enjoyed Jay White, and all that. It’s also apparent that AEW helps NJPW a lot when it comes to financial terms, anyone that is against this partnership is also against NJPW doing good, for obvious reasons. But I don’t really rank these people as “fans” anyway.
I do not like Tony Khan’s booking, and I do not like the fact that I can’t remember the last NJPW wrestler to get a win in a Dynamite/Rampage/PPV. But I get dream matches, more people are exposed to NJPW, and it’s a good financial resource.
Anyone that is against this partnership needs to get their head checked. And when it comes to wrestlers leaving NJPW… get a clue, they would always leave if a western promotion knocked at the door, the difference is that if they sign for AEW we get to see them in Japan or Strong episodes/PPV’s