If you haven’t noticed lately, several huge stars from NJPW are leaving the promotion shortly, with the most notable being former IWGP Heavyweight champion Kenny Omega and former IWGP Jr. Heavyweight champion KUSHIDA.
Of course, the absence of these stars will be felt for a bit, but it’s no where near the beginning of the end for New Japan Pro-Wrestling.
NJPW President Harold Meij sets the record straight on how the company will hold up on their big stars exiting the promotion. Chris Charlton used his Twitter account as a means of translation:
“is New Japan OK?’ Yes, it is. ‘Is this the beginning of the end?’ Twitter’s getting ahead of itself. Talent will come & go. That’s life. Half of the Japanese people have had more than one occupation. More overseas. There are different life stages, priorities change. What counts is that while here, ppl shine as bright as possible & produce the best product possible for us"
Meij also addresses new promotions entering into the world of professional wrestling:
“More promotions in the market is proof of a healthy sector with more people watching. A billion Dollar market is turning into 1.3, 1.5 billion. It’s not a tiny space with everyone fighting over scraps anymore.”