NJPW of America

[NintendoLogic]

It's official. Details from the press conference here:

https://www.njpw1972.com/63157

Between this and Bushiroad acquiring Stardom, it looks like they've decided they need to be aggressive because sticking with a pat hand in the current environment will doom them in the long run. Also, I think it's safe to say that any kind of NJPW/AEW partnership is officially out the window.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Holy shit, this is actually a well thought out business plan with multiple phases that is not too overly ambitious. I mean for a foreign company to penetrate US market is unheard of so in and of itself is ambitious, but I feel they are being realistic and they are thinking things through. With their current management, I am hopeful for New Japan Pro Wrestling in the future. I am excited! 

[C.S.]

Does that article indicate anything about NJPW World being available on devices other than FireTV? Because that has long been a necessary step. 

[Jmare007]

I hope Ohbari does a better job than Meji when it comes to promoting shows. It's good that they are still being realistic in terms of venues, but the lack of hype for shows that had either stacked cards or a lot of big talent announced was staggering for such a popular promotion.

I also hope they take care of the talent, they already are banged up to hell once the G-1 comes around. Next year it will be different with the tournament taking place later in the year but flying them out constantly for 4-5 shows in the US during the time they normally take a break? Idk about that.

[SirEdger]

I wonder if this could mean the death of Ring of Honor if this plan is well-executed. I mean, you gotta think they're gonna go after guys like Jay Lethal and Marty Scurll to spearhead this US implementation.

[El-P]

Will this year stop being crazy ?

[Coffey]

58 minutes ago, El-P said:

Will this year stop being crazy ?

As a wrestling fan that hasn't really had a reason to be excited for quite awhile now, this year has been awesome. I mean, before this year, I feel like my wrestling watching habits were dwindling. I was watching old Crockett shows or old Nitro shows on the Network & the occasional WWE PPV & that was about it (other than shows like Wrestle Kingdom). Now though? Man. Between NWA Power, AEW Dynamite & everything else, it's an exciting time to be a wrestling fan again. And the best part? I can get my wrestling fix & completely ignore WWE in the process. Hopefully they'll get their shit together too, as there's a lot of WWE traditions that I still enjoy (such as Royal Rumble & Wrestlemania with friends) but skipping RAW & Smackdown? Easy as hell. 

There's going to be casualties though. Like SirEdger hinted at. I wouldn't be surprised to see ROH, MLW & maybe even Impact get hit super hard if not fatally by all the ongoing USA wrestling shenanigans. 

[sek69]

ROH will continue to shuffle on as long as Sinclair wants it to, same thing with Impact and Anthem. Groups that don't have ties to big money like MLW would be the most at risk to get swallowed up by something like this.

The only issue with NJPW America's plan here is that success in the US hinges on TV, and their TV partner here is AXS which just got bought by Anthem and gutted their staff. Maybe it will turn out to be easier for wrestling to get on TV now that AEW gets a million viewers a week on TNT, but it's probably still going to be an uphill climb for a Japanese owned company to get anywhere on US TV.

[Coffey]

1 minute ago, sek69 said:

ROH will continue to shuffle on as long as Sinclair wants it to, same thing with Impact and Anthem.

But if the talent starts going elsewhere, they're still fucked. Like imagine Impact right now if Tessa left. Like no one is checking out ROH for Matt Taven. Even if they can offer big money it doesn't mean the talent will choose them, ya know?

 

[sek69]

1 hour ago, Coffey said:

But if the talent starts going elsewhere, they're still fucked. Like imagine Impact right now if Tessa left. Like no one is checking out ROH for Matt Taven. Even if they can offer big money it doesn't mean the talent will choose them, ya know?

 

Well Matt Taven chose them just recently. I agree he's not a draw but WWE and ROH apparently both made offers and he chose ROH. 

[Migs]

The question isn't about whether ROH will exist; it's about whether anyone above a small base will want to watch it. They could very easily be Impact in six months.

[C.S.]

Hot take: NJPW of America is going to fail spectacularly. Just as WWE has no clue about the Japanese market, NJPW has no clue about the American market. Any success they've had is because it's been a novelty so far or they hitched their wagons to hot gaijin acts like Omega and the Bucks, which are obviously no longer available to them. 

NJPW stubborn loyalty to the dying ROH is admirable, but that ship has sailed and flamed out. AEW seemingly wants to work with NJPW and has all of the gaijins that attracted American fans in the first place, but NJPW won't budge. I get that it may be a cultural issue, but still.

I know it may not seem connected, but the fact that NJPW World is only on Fire Stick (and probably random Android devices) after so many years just reeks of incompetence. If you don't give people an easy way to access your product, they're not going to bother. "But a Fire Stick is only $25" is the type of response only a RASSLIN' fan so deep in the bubble would make. I don't care if it's free - it's not my device of choice, I don't want an extra device I use for only one service cluttering things up, and I think said device sucks. NJPW needs to roll out to other devices like Roku, PS3/4, etc. ASAP. Needed to do that two years ago, but they appear to be clueless about the American market. 

[WrestlingPower]

I was surprised to hear Meltzer totally poo-poo the concept of NJUSA.  Usually he's all about more alternatives and places for people to go and rarely totally discourages the existence of something.  He was openly saying this was pointless, their business plan of house shows demonstrates they aren't in touch with the US market, etc.  All of these may be valid points but to me you let these companies learn their own lessons and discover for themselves.  If NJ is willing to pay for talent to work shows in front of 400 people, it's their choice and their bottom line, to me they shouldn't be discouraged.  It may work for them, who knows.  And I'm sure the fans that go would enjoy it depending on what's presented.  I'd be interested in possibly going depending on the lineup.

I was thinking about how this affects ROH too.  To me ROH may already be close to the level of Impact since reports are their most recent PPV drew 800 buys as compared to doing 10,000 somewhat recently (Mania weekend maybe?).  I think AEW needs to get some guys from there and NJPW would probably need them too to fill up US cards.  NJ either thinks they can do it al on their own or don't trust the ROH infrastructure but to me it would make more sense for this to be a joint venture with ROH and let them handle some of the heavy lifting of US promotion & logisitics.

I guess my point is we need to see how this plays out.

[C.S.]

3 hours ago, WrestlingPower said:

I was surprised to hear Meltzer totally poo-poo the concept of NJUSA.

Wow, I posted my rant above totally unaware of what Meltzer thought. I, too, am surprised he's against it. He's right though. It's a bad idea, and it's going to crash and burn. 

[sek69]

2 hours ago, C.S. said:

I, too, am surprised he's against it.

For all the crap Dave gets both justified or otherwise, he really does know the business side of wrestling better than all but a handful of people. 

[rovert]

No idea why people here thought Meltzer would be against it. He's been very strong on Wrestling promotions needing a real TV in the US to draw for at least two decades.

NJPW USA is the definition of cart before the horse.

I know people who have been involved in early versions of this project. New Japan's home office's decision-making is slow and arrogant to be a fit with US demands. And that's not counting time zone difference. 

[WrestlingPower]

Meltzer is the first to admit that sometimes he and other reporters/critics/experts get surprised by how something does.  I just feel he was a bit harsh in writing off the project.  Not saying his facts aren't valid and he may very well have a point on all of those things, but it's not up to him.  If NJ wants to risk $ in trying this, let them.  Let the marketplace dictate what people want to watch and/or pay for.

[goodhelmet]

On 10/21/2019 at 2:16 PM, Coffey said:

 I can get my wrestling fix & completely ignore WWE in the process. 

This right here.  My wrestling fandom for the last couple of years has hinged on my love for old school wrestling. I like New Japan but I'm not in love with New Japan. I cut ties with all WWE product because I despise the company. AEW and NWA Power have me excited to watch weekly wrestling again. 

[sek69]

6 hours ago, WrestlingPower said:

Meltzer is the first to admit that sometimes he and other reporters/critics/experts get surprised by how something does.  I just feel he was a bit harsh in writing off the project.  Not saying his facts aren't valid and he may very well have a point on all of those things, but it's not up to him.  If NJ wants to risk $ in trying this, let them.  Let the marketplace dictate what people want to watch and/or pay for.

The marketplace already did though. They don't have a good record drawing the second time in a market, so running a house show loop seems to fly in the face of what they should have already learned from the shows they've already done. 

I'm also guessing these shows are going to largely be LA Dojo and Young Lion types filling the card as well, which won't do much to put butts in seats.