Takaaki Kidani, Bushiroad Director: “The reason why NJPW has not returned to its former glory is the new pro-wrestling organization called AEW in the US. In light of this situation, we will continue to do what we can in the US while developing the Asian market, which they have not yet taken.”

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1. >*”The reason why New Japan Pro-Wrestling is technically increasing its digital content revenues but has not returned to its former glory is the new pro-wrestling organization called “AEW” in the US between 2018 and 2019. AEW has a turnover of 10 billion yen, which I believe is the main reason why New Japan Pro-Wrestling has dropped from second to third place in the world rankings.*
   >
   >*In light of this situation, I believe that we will continue to patiently do what we can in the United States for the time being, while developing the Asian market, which they have not yet taken.”*

2. Then end this partnership and stop sending talent to them you dumbass

3. I mean he’s not exactly wrong. I’ve talked to several people who have basically said AEW scratches an itch that pre-2019 Nooj did. Aside from the elite it provides faster, harder hitting action than WWE with more familiar names and easier access. Other factors are there no doubt (pandemic era shows mostly) but that was a big part of it.

   It really is a shame Howard Meij got pissy about the Elite leaving cause they would’ve lost so much less ground if they stayed on good terms from the jump.

4. I think that’s pretty obvious. I imagine there was a chunk of NJPW fans pre-AEW who were more into it as a WWE alternative than because it was exactly what they wanted in wrestling. Plus the end of the Golden era of the 2010s stuff.

   I don’t think AEW could have much effect on them in Japan though, and tbh the stuff they doing with Strong/NJoA leaves a bit to be desired, I don’t think that is down to AEW

5. I guess that is something we never consider for NJPW to test the waters in markets such as Korea, China & Singapore. They ran a show in Singapore I think in 2016 can’t remember which.

6. The fact this dude walked out of forbidden door last year with the epiphany that NJPW needed to have woman wrestling in America (ignoring AEW success despite doing the bare minimum with their women) and then threw all that money at Sasha is a fire-able offense to me.

   He’s just now catching on that AEW has been hurting their US business?

7. NJPW has proofed with this years G1 that they are still the best pure pro wrestling company in the world. AEW had an awesome run until now. Success is still there, but they have started to lose touch with the spirit of the first years and are close to hurting their reputation with all the trash that goes on behind and in front of the camera right now.

8. Well yeah, NJPW was catching on in the US at a time when a lot of fans weren’t satisfied with WWE’s direction. People needed a wrestling fix, so they flocked to the alternatives. The thing is that only so many people that jumped ship really resonated with the culture of puroresu, so it’s not that much of a surprise that some of those newer fans went to AEW.

   Some people followed the Elite wherever they went, American fans won’t have to put a pot of coffee on to watch AEW shows live, and you won’t have to search Twitter or wait a day for English translations on promos. I prefer NJPW, I’ve stayed with the brand since 2017. But it’s not hard to see why certain fans would jump ship for AEW.

   I also think that Harold Meij’s hesitance with working with AEW early on hurt them as well. I get why he went the path he did, didn’t want to work with a company that hasn’t proven itself, bitter about The Elite, etc. But in the end, it took away a lot of eyes from a market that they’ve spent a lot of money trying to get a following in.

9. Well yeah, that’s fairly obvious. I hope Kidani isn’t just realizing that now. The U.S. wrestling market is oversaturated these days, and there’s no space for another top promotion right now. Most WWE and AEW fans don’t actively watch any other promotion, and there’s nothing Kidani could do to make them watch New Japan.

   He’s exactly right when it comes to focusing on other parts of Asia and Australia/New Zealand. Both are untapped markets with a lot of business potential. Give up on the United States outside of a few big shows a year and focus on Asia and Oceania.

10. Personally, I was drawn to NJPW because puroresu’s sports-oriented presentation is very different from the traditional entertainment-oriented style in America. My first genuine exposure to NJPW and Japanese wrestling was their weekly AXS TV show back in 2017-ish? Every Friday at 7pm, I would watch NJPW on AXS in addition to the TV specials for their occasional US events (i.e. G1 Special, G1 Special in San Francisco, Fighting Spirit Unleashed, 2019 G1 Climax Night 1, etc.). Even if it was a 2 hour weekly digest of matches from the past few weeks, it was still a lot of high quality wrestling to consume.

    I’d say some of that momentum died when AXS originally took NJPW off the air for about a year after their refusal to work with Impact following Anthem’s acquisition of AXS. Personally, I was happy when I heard NJPW was returning to US TV on AXS, but I am still a bit disappointed that all we get is just one hour a week in a 9-10PM CT slot after Impact. It’s still something, but not much compared to their previous AXS deal.

    Tl;dr: I’m no expert in this, but I feel like their one year hiatus from US TV and their new TV timeslot and agreement really hindered their US presence and market share a bit, especially for fans without FITE or NJPW World.

11. Maybe if the NJPW World service worked at Europe more than 1/10 days? I don’t know just giving ideas.

12. And the sky is blue. No shit. Omega was going to lead the charge but he left. If the elite stayed in NJPW and made America their home base, it would not have lasted as long. Same for ROH. The Khan family have the resources and connections to not only keep this thing afloat, but to keep it afloat during the pandemic. If the pandemic never happens, Njpw would be doing great with Will Ospreay at the top, which they were before the pandemic. NJPW in America would’ve been half assed, let’s just be honest. You need TV to survive in the US.

    This story is much to do about nothing.

13. Smart decision. Eagles mention on a podcast that Philippines could be a hot market. They should recruit from those areas too since I expect jumpers to AEW next year.

14. They’d be doing fine in America if they knew how to make and market products to Americans

15. Among NJPW’s other woes in trying to break into the Western market, they never got around to making a good streaming app. The one on the Fire Stick is…rough, or at least it was the last time I checked.

    Offering a good streaming service would be a huge help in penetrating a non-native market like the US.

16. I just hope that the eventual poaching of Ospreay will be the final straw to end this one-sided partnership once and for all.

17. Hey Bushiroad, Europe is calling as well.

18. I hope this is a hint that the “partnership” days are numbered.

    I personally think U.S. expansion was always a lost cause for NJPW and that they should stay focused on bringing the Japanese wrestling industry back to its glory days of the 90’s.

19. Trying to get NJPW back to what it was in 2017-2018 is like trying to get the WWE back to 1999. Those types of runs are once in a lifetime.

    And it’s not simply market share, it’s the competition for talent and the prestige of being the position of “primary competitor to Vince McMahon”

20. Tapping on SEA/Oceania is better in the long run.

    There’s no overlap between WWE/AEW with NJPW shows running so a fan can watch a WWE or AEW show in the morning and then go to watch a NJPW show live later.

    Also, these areas are wrestling starved and they can draw good crowds if they put in effort to promote the shows.

21. Id rather have AEW than NJPW Strong. Sorry not sorry.

22. AEW is not the problem, it’s NJPW story telling with the people they have. Not to mention their complete lack of priority or care for their US based shows/promotions like Strong. If they want to grow, they have to put the effort in.

23. A lot of people will get hit with history revisionism but I’ll never forget how NJPW was red hot and their US expansion was lackluster as hell. Some people blame the ROH partnership which doesn’t make sense, some people blame AEW which makes even less sense

    It was a shot in the foot not creating something bigger and better in the US during Bullet Club and Elite’s peak and it was definitely a shot in the foot how NJPW content was flowing through social medias and highlighting the company to foreigners and then the copyright claims got even worse… and now everything is taken down everywhere minus Facebook (I think?)

    Considering all of that and the timezone aspect, it’s no wonder a lot of foreigners simply stopped caring.

24. Covid hurt their US expansion too. AEW coming was hard enough but Covid killed their expansion for sure. What they’re doing now is very small compared to how bold they thought to go previously.

25. Fuck the US expansion. And fuck AEW. NJPW is perfect the way it is.