Takami Ohbari took over from Harold Meij has President of New Japan Pro Wrestling in October. The change in management led to much speculation that NJPW could reverse its position on talent-sharing and working with other wrestling companies.
During a recent interview with NJPW1972.com, Ohbari clarified the company’s current position on the matter is to support wrestlers who wish to work for other companies.
“I will say this until I’m blue in the face: this is a star driven business, and the wrestlers are the focus,” Ohbari said. “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.”
New Japan Strong
Ohbari continued to talk about the door is open for more American talent to wrestle for NJPW on New Japan STRONG, which airs Fridays on the New Japan World streaming service.
If there is someone who wants to come in and the fans want to see it, NJPW will work to make it happen. “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.”
He added, “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.”
Ohbari’s comments come on the heels of several “Forbidden Door” type moves in recent months. NJPW’s David Finlay & Juice Robinson have been performing for Impact and are the promotion’s current tag champions. Yuji Nagata will be appearing on AEW Dynamite to face Jon Moxley next week for the IWGP United States title as well.
The full interview can be read here.