The Wrestling War Goes Global

Coming to America
Photo Credit: NJPW1972.com 

American wrestling is undergoing rejuvenation to levels not seen since the downslope of the Monday Night War. Much as late World Championship Wrestling posed no threat to the then-World Wrestling Federation starting in 2000 or so, All Elite Wrestling probably isn't at a point where it can affect what main roster WWE does in terms of revenue overall. However, one can look at the ratings of the last three weeks and see that AEW's Dynamite program is kicking the ever-loving shit out of NXT and that Friday Night Smackdown ratings are sliding into the toilet only after three weeks. Once again, one cannot discern a pattern after three weeks, but the opening signs show that sooner rather than later, AEW might be player on the level of 1997 WCW.

However, there is another player in this budding war, and that player comes from a rich wrestling haven in the East. New Japan Pro Wrestling announced today that it will be operating in America with a subsidiary promotion called New Japan Pro Wrestling Of America, a simple yet effective name. The venture will start next month, and the touring plan includes a total of 27 cities in five distinct touring areas (Northeast, Midwest, Pacific Coast, Texas, Southeast). The base of operations will be in California, which makes sense as the company's American dojo is in Los Angeles. The move comes as no real surprise to anyone but maybe the people in Ring of Honor's front office. New Japan has had American dreams since 2011, when they partnered with Jersey All-Pro Wrestling to put on the Invasion Tour, where they crowned their first Intercontinental Champion.

While this expansion may have happened regardless of context, it comes off the heels of WWE attempting to make earnest headway into Japan. Vince McMahon's Big Trump Fundraiser attempted to buy Pro Wrestling NOAH, but the company, founded by a rolling-in-his-grave Mitsuharu Misawa in 2000 rebuffed the offer. Additionally, they tried buying STARDOM, one of the top joshi promotions in Japan. Rossy Ogawa rejected WWE's offer and instead sold the company to Bushiroad corporation, which many know as the parent company of, yes, New Japan Pro Wrestling. It's no secret that WWE wants so bad to start NXT Japan as a way to leach the life out of the Japanese scene as NXT UK has done to Europe. That being said, Japanese promotions have a lot more pride than the folks running PROGRESS, Insane Championship Wrestling, and Westside Xtreme Wrestling, it seems

Of course, the failures to buy those companies don't mean NXT Japan is dead in the water; it probably just means they won't have existing heritage to use to hit the ground running. Rumors are already swirling around that the Fed is gonna sign Daisuke Sekimoto, and they've been working closely with Meiko Satomura and Sendai Girls. If they have to build something from the ground up, they will, because no wrestling market should exist without them dominating it, dammit. It's not a matter of if, but when. When Paul Levesque stood in front of that world map with NXT logos on various parts of the world, it wasn't a pipe dream. Whether it will catch on is another story. I'm not qualified to speak on cultural differences between America and Japan, but I do know that expanding into another subsidiary when your domestic business is being propped up by blood money from Saudi Arabia and contracts you signed before the tailspin began in earnest is like trying to solve marital differences by having another baby.

Still, any company with the history and wealth that WWE has behind it will be formidable. Thankfully for New Japan, they too also have money and heritage. It'll be a battle fought on two fronts, and although competition always invokes the late '90s, I doubt it will ever reach the heights of the Monday Night Wars. I don't think WWE will gain too much of a foothold in Japan, and I also don't know how big New Japan will get over here. The truth is that as long as they're not partnered up, New Japan and AEW will be competing for audience most likely. These subsidiary companies feel like stretch goals for both the bigger entities. However, I feel like New Japan America will have a better chance of lasting longer, especially if they don't do anything stupid. I could be wrong about all of this, but what I'm certain about is that both of these companies look at each other as global rivals, whether or not they want to admit it.

As for Bushiroad's purchase of STARDOM, I don't expect there to be much crossover at first. If New Japan needs women's matches for shows overseas, I can see them adding a STARDOM match or two. That being said, apparently, New Japan is on one television network (TV Asahi) and STARDOM on another (NTV), meaning combining their streaming services will cause a headache domestically. I don't know if that will remain a permanent situation, but for now, all hopes of being able to watch joshi on a New Japan World sub are pipe dreams.