NJPW President on the company’s working relationships with AEW and Impact Wrestling

May 1, 2021 - by Steve Gerweck

NJPW President Takami Ohbari discussed the company’s working relationship with AEW and Impact Wrestling

Takami Ohbari on NJPW working with other companies like AEW and Impact Wrestling:

“Well, I think that topic is something that doesn’t just apply to STRONG but NJPW at large. For me to say ‘NJPW is doing business with company X, so you need to go over there and wrestle’, that’s backward to me. I will say this until I’m blue in the face: this is a star driven business, and the wrestlers are the focus. So if our wrestlers say ‘I want to wrestle that guy’ ‘I want to test myself against that guy’ ‘I want to show that I’m better than that guy’. Then it becomes our job as a company to do what we can to back them, make it happen and make it successful…we’re in the dream business. Presenting them, and making them real. Having a linear approach to business, that only restricts us and it stops fans getting invested.”

On NJPW Strong being a good opportunity for crossover matches:

“When you look at things overseas right now, especially in the US, there are a lot of wrestlers who want to come to Japan, and can’t, right? Even if you get into the country, you have to quarantine. But STRONG is there for those guys. That is authentic, genuine New Japan Pro-Wrestling. If you want to be in NJPW, and you’re good enough, this door is open: come in, come do what you can do, and we’ll make sure the world can watch it. That goes for the fans too; if there’s a match you guys want to see, we’ll do what we can to make it happen.”

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