Tag: cyberagent

JBL believes WWE will try to replicate AAA success in the UK and Japan

Posted on by Jake Skudder

AAA commentator and former WWE Champion JBL recently discussed the share sales of NJPW to TV Asahi and CyberAgent. Speaking on Something To Wrestle With, Layfield discussed the strategy WWE has taken with AAA, saying that he believes the plan is to replicate it in the UK and Japan:

“I’m surprised they [NJPW] went to a TV company, though, and not to WWE. I really thought WWE would buy one of the Japanese companies, and they still may.

“It was years ago, I mean, years ago, it was mid-’90s, when I would hear Vince talk about what his plans were for global domination, and this fits right into it, the exact same plan. The plan is not necessarily owned by Vince, but maybe that’s where it came from, because certainly Hunter was Vince’s right-hand guy. Vince thought for a long time he would have television networks and training centers in all the different continents, except for, of course, Antarctica, but six different continents.

“I think what they did with AAA, I think what they have a potential to do in the U.K., I think they’re going to do that in Japan. I think you’re going to see that. I think I’d be very surprised if by the end of the year that WWE has not bought something in Japan, or at least partnered with Japan.”

WWE Global Localisation

WWE’s global localisation plans have been halted somewhat since the early 2020s, due to the pandemic and changes in market conditions. NXT UK was expected to be rebranded to NXT Europe, and the plans for a quasi version of NXT Japan have at least been talked about in the past in some capacity.

With the initial success of AAA and WWE now being under the TKO umbrella, it’s probably more likely that the company will look to purchase companies outright going forward, rather than branding NXT in these different territories. WWE has worked with Pro Wrestling NOAH during the past few years and previously had relationships in the UK with the likes of PROGRESS and ICW.

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NJPW announces ownership change with Bushiroad transferring all shares

Posted on by Joseph Currier

A huge story in professional wrestling broke overnight with ownership of NJPW changing hands.

Bushiroad, which oversaw NJPW through its 2010s revival and international expansion efforts, announced that it has transferred all of its shares in the promotion to TV Asahi and CyberAgent. NJPW now becomes a “consolidated subsidiary” of TV Asahi with support from CyberAgent.

TV Asahi is NJPW’s longtime broadcast partner and already owned 22.7 percent of the voting shares in the promotion. Bushiroad owned 70 percent of NJPW, with the transfer of their shares being broken down into 3,550,200 shares to TV Asahi and 6,950,200 shares to CyberAgent. TV Asahi and CyberAgent now own an equal number of shares at 46.3 percent.

The share transfer is valued at approximately 3.6 billion yen, or roughly $22.6 million.

CyberAgent (through its subsidiary CyberFight) already owns three of Japan’s biggest wrestling companies in Pro Wrestling NOAH, DDT Pro Wrestling, and Tokyo Joshi Pro, so it will be interesting to see how closely NJPW collaborates with them going forward. CyberAgent operates the streaming platform Abema, which broadcasts WWE content in Japan. However, WWE programming will be moving to Netflix in Japan before the end of 2026.

In statements regarding the share transfer, NJPW says this will be a good move for the company given TV Asahi’s strong broadcasting and video business base and CyberAgent’s excellent digital media operations. NJPW does not plan to make any changes to its event schedule. As for NJPW World, its future has not been directly addressed, but TV Asahi has been part-owner since the streaming service’s launch and controls the NJPW video library.

“Currently, we have no plans to make any changes to our various business operations, including the events we organize, as a result of this Share Transfer,” NJPW said. “We would like to express our gratitude to Bushiroad, which has supported our business for many years as our largest shareholder, and we look forward to working together with TV Asahi and CyberAgent to further expand our business.”

NJPW/Stardom relationship —

One potentially significant change is that Bushiroad still owns Stardom, meaning that NJPW and Stardom are no longer under the same umbrella. NJPW transferred its ownership stake in Stardom to Bushiroad back in March.

Stardom president Taro Okada — who also works for NJPW — tweeted that the two promotions will continue to work together as fellow members of the Japanese wrestling community.

Bushiroad’s NJPW ownership history —

Bushiroad, a Japanese trading card company led by wrestling fan Takaaki Kidani, acquired NJPW from Yuke’s in 2012. The following years were an important period for NJPW as the promotion continued to break out of its dark ages and find business success during the Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada era. Developments in streaming technology meant that NJPW was now able to broadcast its events live worldwide, which helped build the NJPW fan base internationally and give existing fans easier access to the product.

The impacts of COVID brought another lull as the Japanese wrestling scene was hit hard economically. But the final Wrestle Kingdom of the Bushiroad era did serve as a high point, with NJPW selling out the Tokyo Dome this January for Tanahashi’s retirement match. Tanahashi currently serves as NJPW’s real-life president amid this ownership change.

“Our mission to create the best wrestling and bring joy to everyone remains unchanged,” Tanahashi said. “We sincerely appreciate your continued support and encouragement.”