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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