A solo edition of The Big Audio Nightmare is back sans Mike Sempervive this week to talk about everything happening in the very busy world of Japanese professional wrestling.
This week’s topics include:
The WWE Abema TV deal and it means, and doesn’t mean, for the future of wrestling in Japan
Thoughts on Katsuhiko Nakajima’s departure from Pro Wrestling NOAH
Where Nakajima may end up and what the best fit would be
A review of Stardom’s 5 Star GP Final PPV
Stardom’s injury bug, how it can be avoided in the future, and how they get through it
It was announced today that WWE and ABEMA have agreed to a media rights partnership. Starting this October, WWE programming will stream exclusively on ABEMA platforms in Japan. ABEMA platforms will carry Raw, SmackDown, and NXT, along with WWE premium live events.
Raw and SmackDown will both broadcast free-to-air in Japan every week with Japanese commentary immediately following first broadcast in the U.S., for the first time ever. Starting with Raw on Tuesday, October 3 (and every Tuesday night at 8pm local time) and SmackDown on Saturday, October 7 (and every Saturday night at 8pm local time), both weekly shows will also be available to watch on-demand. The new agreement will also see NXT available to watch on-demand in Japan via ABEMA Video.
Additionally, all WWE Premium Live Events will air exclusively live on ABEMA, with all past editions of WrestleMania available to view on-demand via ABEMA Video beginning October 1.
A special program about the deal will be shown on ABEMA this Friday. Keiji Muto (The Great Muta), who is an ABEMA ambassador, noted that he’ll be involved in that broadcast.
Following his retirement from in-ring competition, Muto was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame earlier this year. He was shown sitting in the crowd when Seth Rollins defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura at Payback this month.
With the ABEMA deal, WWE broadcasts are returning to Japan for the first time since 2021. WWE’s partnership with J Sports ended at the conclusion of that year.
