NJPW's New World Order: Expanding globally
At the peak of its powers, New Japan Pro Wrestling pulled one out of the top shelf: signing legendary Chirs Jericho to compete at their annual mega event Wrestle Kingdom 12 at the iconic Tokyo Dome against a white-hot Kenny Omega. It became the focal point for all wrestling fans, and regardless of the result or quality of match, New Japan had snagged itself a bonafide draw that hadn't been seen outside of a major federation in over 20 years.
This wasn't just pure luck by the Japanese Promotion; this was a calculated move to bring even more eyes worldwide to their already growing brand of hard-hitting wrestling. Recently Jericho himself had bragged that since his appearance in the promotion he had single-handedly increased revenue by $1.5 million dollars.
Is this to be believed? As in wrestling there is always shades of grey but the flip side to the emergence of the Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla in a New Japan ring is in who his competition is in the promotion - the 'Omega' in Kenny Omega, and the soon to come face off with Tetsuya Naito.
NJPW has done a masterful job of creating stars that have captured the imagination of wrestling fans. Not since the emerging days of the Monday night wars have fans been more intrigued by what is happening.
From the continued successful title reign and almost indestructible nature of the IWGP Heavyweight Champion, Kazuchika Okada, to the more subtle nature of the continued relationship between Omega and former partner Kota Ibushi, these storylines have become the driving force for a vehicle looking to expand globally.
New Japan's first foray into self-promotion in the USA with the G1 Special last year proved to be a major success for the promotion, again featuring some of their brightest talent - so much so that a return has been booked early in 2018. Now NJPW further expands their global takeover with a four-city tour of Australia in February.
This has been pushed for primarily by New Zealand native Bad Luck Fale and by new Australian Bullet Club member 'Mr. Juicy' Gino Gambino; who made his NJPW debut in the New Japan Rumble.
Roads into Australia were started mid last year first by creating a partnership with local promotion Melbourne City Wrestling where NJPW held it's first tryout for Australian talent. The same night the promotion held an event with Fale tagging with Gambino and also featuring Will Ospreay. Surely this was seen as a 'testing of the waters' as such because the next special guest to come to MCW was a big one - Kazuchika Okada himself.
Configurations for the four venues on the Australian tour have been limited to under 5,000 people, and by early reports, have sold incredibly well by New Japan's expectations. That's no surprise to Australian fans who have been clamoring to see a lineup featuring the likes ofOkada, Omega, Minoru Suzuki, EVIL, Sanada and Iishi, for years now.
No doubt this expansion has been well planned out; from creating a relationship with a local promotion to using some of its top stars to generate buzz and get more eyes on the product. With the inclusion of Jericho into the fold, it has generated even more global attention to a product that has all the necessary tools to continue its expansion due to the depth of its roster and the continued support of its fans through its NJPW World streaming service.
It seems that New Japan Pro Wrestling is indeed poised to 'Take over the Wrestling World'