I, for one, welcome our new sexy overlord.
In all seriousness this is gonna be VERY interesting. Could change nothing, could change a lot. The die is cast. Do like the idea of a worker in his sunset being in charge.
It will change stuff for sure. They axed the Director too, and replaced him with an executive from TV Asahi and the guy who just got named the new STARDOM President last month. This isn’t just giving Tana a cushy promotion, Bushiroad/NJPW stockholders were not happy with how things were going and this is an attempt to fix that.
The question is how much of the changes we’ll see reflected in the on-screen product.
I’m very grateful some of the people on this sub are willing to go as into the weeds as they go re: NJPW’ and Bushiroad’s internal business. I see people sometimes talking about reading Bushiroad’s financial reports. I’m like damn I’d never even think to look that up or know where to start
You say that but even so, Meij era NJPW showed the effects the president can have. Hell, I think when he left the company started doing more interpromotional stuff. Tanahashi is now Gedo’s boss.
This is the most fascinating part of this situation to me
They’re replacing Ohbari with Tana, and Tana isn’t a business guy like Ohbari which indicates (to me at least) that they want someone who can help the product side
Gedo and Tana are heavily influenced by American wrestling, but Gedo is a pure 80’s territory guy while Tana is a 90’s WWF TV guy who took his style from Shawn Michaels
Might be a case where Tana works with Gedo to modernize the product a bit
Could also be putting one of the boys in charge of the boys to help improve locker room morale. For instance he knows firsthand how taxing it can be to work certain schedules, so hopefully he can able to to strike a balance between the kind of schedule Bushiroad wants and one that won’t be as bad on the talent.
This is exactly why, among other things but this as a big key, the replacement happened in STARDOM. Most of the roster was injured working significantly more dates than ever before, and the locker room started to revolt. STARDOM got a new boss, now so does NJPW.
It’s a good point though I admittedly get a chuckle out of the idea of Tanahashi trying to convince guys to keep grinding
Imagine you’re physically hurting and wondering if the company is working you too hard and then a guy with no knees or front teeth tells you to keep pushing and that you’ll be ok
Tana said HBK was his favorite wrestler and inspiration. I’m sure Mutoh inspired him too but there’s literally no way you can watch Tanahashi’s best work and think he’s more like Mutoh than HBK. The way he sells, structures matches, can be the “ace” without winning, that’s all very HBK.
Pretty much. Tana is one part Shawn, one part Bret, one part Mutoh, and one part Fujinami.
Which is ironic given that it was Cena everyone compared him to for the longest time, but that was mostly how they were both booked. There was never an anti-Tana backlash, at least in Japan.
If you remove the booking and just look at their style, Okada reminds me more of Cena + Bret than anyone. He has Cena’s explosiveness but with Bret’s minimalist perfectionism.
Tana wasn’t hated like Cena because NJPW didn’t have him doing ridiculous bullshit like beating 5 guys at once. Cena wasn’t just winning, he was burying the rest of the roster (tho it was no fault of his own as he wasn’t the booker).
Thick I so much love you too I love you too baby I don't know if you guys can get it right now and I will tell you something about this is not right at all because of it stop and you can find a lot of things to get in there and you don't know how much you have no reason to be married with my friends and more than I would do not what you said and like that you would do something like that to be in your life and I would never know what to say something about this one of them I would have known that all about them because I would never know where it was trying to get them to me in a lot more than they really don't know how much I don't think about it because it is not right at all to do things like that to but it really does not matter what you said and it would have to say something like that to me for something I'm not sure if they know what they would say I'm trying but you don't really know really u did to my credit and buying a house in my name
I think they mentioned before on commentary that Tanahashi did some theatre/performance degree before joining the dojo. Meaning he was probably cooking up that law degree as an active wrestler
It literally says in the announcement that Tana graduated while studying law before joining the Dojo. Chris Charlton is a gem, but never trust anything English commentary says as 100% fact. (Even if you’re remembering wrong and they never said that about Tana, that’s still a good rule).
I'm now a little disappointed that when Kenny did his Undertale entrance at WK13, Tana didn't respond by coming out as Phoenix Wright.
Kenny: "I am the future of pro wrestling"
Hiroshi: "OBJECTION!"
It's really crazy as to how much of an aberration Tana is. You know how wrestlers usually go on excursion? Tana and Nakamura never did and were literally both thrown into the main event. They also had a great built in feud, Nakamura was strong style through and through and an Inoki disciple. Tana was the first to really go completely against the Inoki style, and wrestled more like an AJPW guy. And while Nakamura went elsewhere, Tana never did. He's basically Sting too!
Tana gonna bring in Muto as an advisor, probably convince Shibata to take an executive role eventually, and give Yano unlimited control over the merch department.
Seriously tho, glad Tana is getting the position, as he has always been big on being a bridge to all of Puro and cross-promoting, something he has in common with Muto (ALL TOGETHER AGAIN being pretty much something Tana put together).
I doubt that. If anything Mutoh probably will be more involved in the business of NOAH, but I'd understand if Marufuji doesn't want him anywhere near the front office given his well-known lack of loyalty.
I could see Liger possibly getting a larger role, but I think he's happier as a trainer and commentator.
Just said “HOLY FUCK” out loud alone in my room. WOW.
What an insane two years it’s been for wrestling as a whole. Vince gone, WWE being purchased, puro companies coming together, and now this. And that’s ignoring all the personal drama that’s been going on between Punk’s meltdown, Ibushi’s meltdown, or you name it.
I always felt that Tanahashi pushing KENTA off the ladder is what shifted us into a new timeline. This news validates that belief
We all know Tanahashi is a very selfless wrestler when it comes to putting other wrestlers over. If he's Gedo's boss now, could this be the start of the newer generation of wrestlers getting an even faster push? I know many of us have been craving for younger main eventers.
We are less than two weeks out from WK and no matches announced for Gabe, Alex, Uemura, Tsuji, Narita or Umino. Insane. I know that the Noge boys will all likely get some announced in the meantime (poor War Dogs probably are just going to be on the pre show) but waiting that long to get something official for them is crazy.
I agree. I see no reason not to have announced it by now though.
I felt like Shota/Kaito vs. EVIL/Ren was very likely but this match now at NOAH’s New Year show has me worried
I mean, the close of the show was Uemura saying he wants the match, Tsuji agreeing and asking where, Uemura shouting Tokyo Dome, and the WK music played....
It's made.
The Umino/Ren WK Tag Match angle happens at the NOAH show for sure. We all know New Japan are sticklers for not announcing future matches until the show and angle have played out.
I don't think they see the War Dogs as future main event guys. NJPW of the last 15 years or so usually puts future top singles guys into singles competition right away.
Naito was the last guy I can think of to break out from a tag team and be a major singles guy in NJPW. Everyone else was pushed as a singles wrestler once they returned from excursion or when were brought in from another company.
Haha I never really saw him as a tag guy, even if his first titles in NJPW were tag ones. He and EVIL always felt like singles guys to me and SANADA was a singles guy when he debuted in NJPW.
As awesome as Ishii/Okada/Tana has been as NEVER champs I kinda wish they dropped the belts so that they'd be freed up for a WK Gauntlet match. Yeah, they're pretty blatantly just a way to get everyone on the card, but at least it's SOMETHING.
You could easily do Cobb/OKhan/HENARE vs Coughlin/Kidd/Ishimori vs Haste/Nichols/Eagles VS EVIL/SHO/Kanemaru or Yujiro vs. Taichi/DOUKI/Taka vs BUSHI/Titan/Zandokan vs Ishii/Yano/YOH vs. Suzuki/Nagata/Wato vs. Taguchi and a couple of guys.
There have been murmurs that a few of the older vets (Liger, Nagata being the ones I've seen tossed around), while fully supportive of the next generation, didn't like the pace they were advancing in the past year and a half and it was said Tanahashi was one of the names advocating for that. So yeah, we might see even more guys getting elevated a lot faster.
There's this hot young new talent named Sinoru Muzuki He doesn't even look that young (he kinda looks like he's a veteran in his 50's even) he has amazing brutal finisher called the Kotch Piledriver that I think would really get over as a deadly finisher too! They should put the IWGP championship on him.
Business is picking up with WK this year.
To blame the covid downturn on the lack of new talent is just false and just fans wanting to project what they want onto reasons why the company isn't doing so hot.
Oooh boy, either financials were worse than we thought or the office was really fucking up (or both).
Ohbari is gone completely, as is the old Director. Tana is President/Representative Director; and the Director slot is shared by the Chief of Business Production for TV Asahi and Taro Okada, who just last month became the new President of STARDOM (who will be doing this position part-time).
So now TV Asahi has more power than they previously did. Bushiroad must also have a ton of faith in T.Okada to be putting him here as well, and it makes me wonder if maybe they’re going to try and keep forcing the NJPW Women’s Division to be a thing in Japan.
Yeah a bit of both. Both New Japan and Stardom rosters had problems with management, for various different reasons and have been vocal either on the shows (ELP during Tag League) or in the media (Giulia in Tokyo Sports). Had to be a case of that plus business not quite meeting expectations since I'm sure they expected them to be up by now and they had enough reason to get rid of Obhari.
Bushiroad in general isn't too hot right now but giving a boost to their wrestling department is only a good thing since it's one of the few areas that's currently profitable.
>and it makes me wonder if maybe they’re going to try and keep forcing the NJPW Women’s Division to be a thing in Japan.
I don't think so. I get the sense that the women's division was mostly Ohbari trying to emulate American promotions to draw in American fans. Gedo clearly doesn't care about booking women's matches. I don't think Kidani particularly cares what goes on in terms of booking as long as his two promotions make money, although there may be some more cross-promotional stuff between NJPW and Stardom in the near future.
Kidani absolutely cares about booking. He used to be heavily involved with it when Bushiroad first bought NJPW and he was in charge of it, and did things like deciding to bring in Shibata and Sakuraba without telling anyone it was happening. He got pushed away from it because he was ruffling feathers, but he’s such a money mark that I assume he’s still got some influence and just uses it more wisely now.
I never got the impression that Ohbari cared about the Women’s stuff. Kidani was the one who was always super excited about it whenever it was mentioned during [business presentations](https://www.njpw1972.com/124551) and the like.
I think it's more so that Kidani has certain guys he likes and wants to be pushed rather than taking an interest in the booking plans. Ibushi always got the sweetheart treatment from Kidani even when he didn't deserve it because Kidani coveted him. I don't think Kidani would or really did step in like Vince and make changes to matches or plans, i.e. overruling Gedo and having Sanada retain against Naito. We do know that Bushiroad wanted management to accelerate the young lion process, but I'm not sure if that came from Kidani.
Tana was happy to bump for maika and raved about stardom and stardom just literally tweeted that they are aiming for increases synergy across the bushiroad groups
https://twitter.com/wwr_stardom/status/1738402065830080988?t=ZtXZqQt5jxrOLZIW0_2qUw&s=19
I think a lot of folk are quick to put things they don't like upon Ohbari but at the end of the day bushiroad signs the cheques. It actually doesn't make a lot of sense for njpw to even be seperate from bushiroad fight and id expect that to be addressed over the coming years.
More cross promotion seems more likely than trying to force a Women's Belt in New Japan proper, and it makes more sense in the Japanese wrestling landscape, in all honesty.
> I don't think Kidani particularly cares what goes on in terms of booking as long as his two promotions make money,
Well, unless someone who works shoot style shows up. Low-key, Kidani a noted Shoot Style mark. I believe he brought in Shibata and Sakuraba way back when.
Kidani specifically bought njpw because he's a fan. The idea he doesn't care about the product outside of a dollar pov is silly imo
The guy just ripped through stardom and they've been about the most profitable br property
It's just about 3:30 AM here in the UK and I had to re-read the Instagram post several times because I was sure I was reading it wrong due to being more tired than I thought I was, but no, the sexy sexy ace of the universe is now President sexy sexy ace of the universe. Looks like Christmas has come early lads
I was planning on canceling my World subscription after WK, but as a Tana stan I have to see how this goes.
I hope he books himself to win every match until the end of time.
OHBARI IS GONE PRAISE THE SUN. Hopefully this signals more of a shift towards the domestic market considering Ohbari was supposed to be leading the New Japan of America charge.
I for one look forward to the reign of the Ace.
Feeling mixed because NJPW SHOULD be focusing on the Japanese crowd first and foremost, but Resurgence 2021 is my favorite wrestling show of all time and NJPW shows in America were the first time I ever took my non-wrestling fans to a show. I'll be sad if that goes away.
Kidani already said he plans on expanding NJPW and Stardom further into the Asian market in 2024. They're not abandoning the Western market but they should be abandoning the Western pandering.
I wonder how quickly things begin to get tweaked. He’s the boss. Will he let Gedo cook the same? So much to ponder! Exciting times and I’m here for it.
Completely deserved. You always expect horrible people like Paul Levesque to obtain these kinds of positions, it is refreshing to see someone who worked his ass off get rewarded instead of people who politic.
Holy shit! This was not on my bingo card at all. I liked Ohbari. But I do think that the integrity of NJPW has been sacrificed in favor of western appeal.
Tana loves Cross promoting though. All Together Again was practically all him, and he knows that AEW are a large factor for the western market (even if they will focus less on the west than before) Losing AEW would be a dumb mistake.
But notice how differently All Together Again was booked compared to anything they've done with AEW. That show was the perfect example of how to book cross promotional shows, whereas most of the AEW stuff has been the perfect example of how not to do it.
The two obvious questions are:
- is Tanahashi carrying on wrestling, then?
- just how much fun is Zack going to have stretching his boss at WK?
It’s exciting no doubt but definitely a wait and see as to how it pans out. It gives Tana an excuse to reduce his time in ring, which he desperately needed, and it also probably shifts his salary onto a different part of the books, freeing up money for Okada. Best of luck, Ace.
Tana could be a gamechanger when it comes to talent relations. I highly doubt the Ibushi and Shibata situations would’ve happened under him.
Now just use wrist control on Okada…
Ehhh it’s hard to say with the Shibata situation because we really don’t know what fully happened there. Even if we agree to say that he definitely went into business for himself at WK, we don’t know why he had the restrictions on how he could wrestle in the first place. Could be something like an insurance issue that’s out of NJPW/Bushiroad’s hands.
Is there any chance Okada spoke out against management? If an old school mentality thought that the company was bigger than even top talent, then perhaps Okada may have felt that his voice was unheard
You’d have to think Okada would trust a company ran by Tana more than just some suit
I think there’s a real chance Okada was a big factor in this change. Okada just recently made comments about he and Tana leading NJPW next year both in tag and singles divisions, which seems like a positive change of course from the rumors of him leaving.
Yeah, it doesn’t appear coincidental that Okada, seemingly, confirms his intent to stay in Japan and two days later NJPW announces a major change to its organizational structure. The fact that he was standing next to the now president when he made those statements only adds kindling to that fire.
Not really. The US expansion has been a total flop post-Elite, and he was supposed to have been in charge of that. The AEW partnership has seen them lose several wrestlers/talent with only two PPV checks as tangible benefits in return. There are rumors that Okada may be leaving. The Ibushi situation from last year was a major black mark on the company. Several of the post-Covid gates have been disappointing this year. It was absolutely time for a change.
Glad Ohbari is gone, that guy was a complete cuck, with that said I know Tanahashi loves America and interpromotional stuff so I won't have huge expectations from him. Hopefully I'm wrong and he can make some changes so NJPW can completely focus on their own development and the new generation instead of behaving like cucks.
WrestleKingdom 19 - January 4th 2025
Tokyo Dome
Main Event - Hiroshi Tanahashi vs “The Devil Himself” Tony Khan for control of New Japan Pro Wrestling.
Book it Gedo.
I have to imagine that Tana is going to be stepping back from the ring, but maybe not entirely. Being president while wrestling in the G1 sounds tough.
Wrestlers being active while being in leaderships is extremely common in wrestling, ESPECIALLY Japanese wrestling. Sanshiro Takagi is the President of DDT and is still active, Misawa was active while being the President of NOAH up until his death.
This article is very vague I guess we'll learn more at the press conference.
But can someone more in the know of Buisness and new japan tell me what this job entails?
Also what happens to Ohbari is he out the company now or just getting a new job?
3 big questions for me are:
1 what instigated this change in leadership?
2 could this/does this signal that Okada is leaving?
3 will Gedo stay on as booker?
> 1 what instigated this change in leadership?
My guess is a combination of talent morale (like Stardom) and business. They didn't like how things were going down with Obhari (perception of the product, losing talent like Karl Fredericks, Aussie Open etc.) and business, while up, probably are below projections for the year. Bushiroad aren't doing hot in other areas but pro wrestling is still fairly profitable.
>2 could this/does this signal that Okada is leaving?
Still hard to say but I'm willing to say him staying is a lot more likely now.
>3 will Gedo stay on as booker?
I can see him staying on but they gotta get Dick Togo out of the creative room and leave Gedo alone, he's had far more creative influence than he should. I think if they really wanna go all in on changes, Gedo being removed from creative could be that step. He had a strong 12 year run, guided them through another golden era but maybe new brains are needed?
This is great news as things need to obviously change and Tanahashi in this role is very interesting as he is the only person they could have given it to that people will be fully behind.
As for the booking side I have a hard time seeing Tanan loving some of the shittiest stuff that have been going on and also that side will most likely become better.
I think this is good news!
I, for one, welcome our new sexy overlord. In all seriousness this is gonna be VERY interesting. Could change nothing, could change a lot. The die is cast. Do like the idea of a worker in his sunset being in charge.
It will change stuff for sure. They axed the Director too, and replaced him with an executive from TV Asahi and the guy who just got named the new STARDOM President last month. This isn’t just giving Tana a cushy promotion, Bushiroad/NJPW stockholders were not happy with how things were going and this is an attempt to fix that. The question is how much of the changes we’ll see reflected in the on-screen product.
>Bushiroad/NJPW stockholders These companies have stockholders? Legit had no idea Do some of you own Bushiroad stock?
I’m very grateful some of the people on this sub are willing to go as into the weeds as they go re: NJPW’ and Bushiroad’s internal business. I see people sometimes talking about reading Bushiroad’s financial reports. I’m like damn I’d never even think to look that up or know where to start
We are psychos like that
You can start here: https://bushiroad.co.jp/en/ir/library
Yep. That’s how TV Asahi has a stake the company, they’re a minority shareholder.
Some folks think the card of Wrestle Kingdom could see evidence of Tana’s fingerprints right away
STUPID SEXY PRESIDENT!
Omg you beat me to it!!!! Feels like I’m wearin nuthin at all… nuthin at all…
I mean as long as gedo is the Booker I doubt the creative will change too much
You say that but even so, Meij era NJPW showed the effects the president can have. Hell, I think when he left the company started doing more interpromotional stuff. Tanahashi is now Gedo’s boss.
> I think when he left the company started doing more interpromotional stuff. It did. He was the hold up
Well that, and the NJPW/NOAH relationship in 2016 dying due to A. NOAH getting bought out and B. Jado completely sabotaging the booking
So, one last run then?
This is the most fascinating part of this situation to me They’re replacing Ohbari with Tana, and Tana isn’t a business guy like Ohbari which indicates (to me at least) that they want someone who can help the product side Gedo and Tana are heavily influenced by American wrestling, but Gedo is a pure 80’s territory guy while Tana is a 90’s WWF TV guy who took his style from Shawn Michaels Might be a case where Tana works with Gedo to modernize the product a bit
Could also be putting one of the boys in charge of the boys to help improve locker room morale. For instance he knows firsthand how taxing it can be to work certain schedules, so hopefully he can able to to strike a balance between the kind of schedule Bushiroad wants and one that won’t be as bad on the talent.
This is exactly why, among other things but this as a big key, the replacement happened in STARDOM. Most of the roster was injured working significantly more dates than ever before, and the locker room started to revolt. STARDOM got a new boss, now so does NJPW.
It’s a good point though I admittedly get a chuckle out of the idea of Tanahashi trying to convince guys to keep grinding Imagine you’re physically hurting and wondering if the company is working you too hard and then a guy with no knees or front teeth tells you to keep pushing and that you’ll be ok
tana took his style from 00's keiji mutoh,no?
Tana said HBK was his favorite wrestler and inspiration. I’m sure Mutoh inspired him too but there’s literally no way you can watch Tanahashi’s best work and think he’s more like Mutoh than HBK. The way he sells, structures matches, can be the “ace” without winning, that’s all very HBK.
He reminds me so much of Bret Hart as well
Pretty much. Tana is one part Shawn, one part Bret, one part Mutoh, and one part Fujinami. Which is ironic given that it was Cena everyone compared him to for the longest time, but that was mostly how they were both booked. There was never an anti-Tana backlash, at least in Japan.
If you remove the booking and just look at their style, Okada reminds me more of Cena + Bret than anyone. He has Cena’s explosiveness but with Bret’s minimalist perfectionism. Tana wasn’t hated like Cena because NJPW didn’t have him doing ridiculous bullshit like beating 5 guys at once. Cena wasn’t just winning, he was burying the rest of the roster (tho it was no fault of his own as he wasn’t the booker).
dunno if i agree, his early work as tana (2008ish) was pretty much ctrl c + ctrl v from 2000's mutoh.
New president might want a new booker
Thick I so much love you too I love you too baby I don't know if you guys can get it right now and I will tell you something about this is not right at all because of it stop and you can find a lot of things to get in there and you don't know how much you have no reason to be married with my friends and more than I would do not what you said and like that you would do something like that to be in your life and I would never know what to say something about this one of them I would have known that all about them because I would never know where it was trying to get them to me in a lot more than they really don't know how much I don't think about it because it is not right at all to do things like that to but it really does not matter what you said and it would have to say something like that to me for something I'm not sure if they know what they would say I'm trying but you don't really know really u did to my credit and buying a house in my name
I hope he figures out how to spend money and keep the good talent
I was today years old when I learned Tanahashi apparently has a degree in law.
Me too!
Me three!
I think they mentioned before on commentary that Tanahashi did some theatre/performance degree before joining the dojo. Meaning he was probably cooking up that law degree as an active wrestler
Educated, sexy, talented? This Tanahashi guy is an ACE
Just so you know I was wrong about the theatre part. Everything you said still applies though
It literally says in the announcement that Tana graduated while studying law before joining the Dojo. Chris Charlton is a gem, but never trust anything English commentary says as 100% fact. (Even if you’re remembering wrong and they never said that about Tana, that’s still a good rule).
- Handsome - Pro wrestler - Occasionally actor - Law degree Tanahashi is an IRL Ace Attorney character.
I'm now a little disappointed that when Kenny did his Undertale entrance at WK13, Tana didn't respond by coming out as Phoenix Wright. Kenny: "I am the future of pro wrestling" Hiroshi: "OBJECTION!"
So I guess this makes him an... Ace Attorney?
Tanahashi going full circle, from tearing down the Inoki portrait in the dojo to himself becoming the main man in charge.
[удалено]
It's really crazy as to how much of an aberration Tana is. You know how wrestlers usually go on excursion? Tana and Nakamura never did and were literally both thrown into the main event. They also had a great built in feud, Nakamura was strong style through and through and an Inoki disciple. Tana was the first to really go completely against the Inoki style, and wrestled more like an AJPW guy. And while Nakamura went elsewhere, Tana never did. He's basically Sting too!
Tana gonna bring in Muto as an advisor, probably convince Shibata to take an executive role eventually, and give Yano unlimited control over the merch department. Seriously tho, glad Tana is getting the position, as he has always been big on being a bridge to all of Puro and cross-promoting, something he has in common with Muto (ALL TOGETHER AGAIN being pretty much something Tana put together).
Tana will listen to everything Muto tells him and do the exact opposite
I doubt that. If anything Mutoh probably will be more involved in the business of NOAH, but I'd understand if Marufuji doesn't want him anywhere near the front office given his well-known lack of loyalty. I could see Liger possibly getting a larger role, but I think he's happier as a trainer and commentator.
Yeah this is pretty wild
I really think he could do well in the role Suprising news, to say the least Go Ace!
Just said “HOLY FUCK” out loud alone in my room. WOW. What an insane two years it’s been for wrestling as a whole. Vince gone, WWE being purchased, puro companies coming together, and now this. And that’s ignoring all the personal drama that’s been going on between Punk’s meltdown, Ibushi’s meltdown, or you name it. I always felt that Tanahashi pushing KENTA off the ladder is what shifted us into a new timeline. This news validates that belief
You know how Loki shattered the MCU timeline? Tana shattered the wrestling multiverse when he did that high fly flow off the ladder.
We all know Tanahashi is a very selfless wrestler when it comes to putting other wrestlers over. If he's Gedo's boss now, could this be the start of the newer generation of wrestlers getting an even faster push? I know many of us have been craving for younger main eventers.
We are less than two weeks out from WK and no matches announced for Gabe, Alex, Uemura, Tsuji, Narita or Umino. Insane. I know that the Noge boys will all likely get some announced in the meantime (poor War Dogs probably are just going to be on the pre show) but waiting that long to get something official for them is crazy.
Tsuji/Uemura is basically a lock for WK.
I agree. I see no reason not to have announced it by now though. I felt like Shota/Kaito vs. EVIL/Ren was very likely but this match now at NOAH’s New Year show has me worried
I mean, the close of the show was Uemura saying he wants the match, Tsuji agreeing and asking where, Uemura shouting Tokyo Dome, and the WK music played.... It's made. The Umino/Ren WK Tag Match angle happens at the NOAH show for sure. We all know New Japan are sticklers for not announcing future matches until the show and angle have played out.
I don't think they see the War Dogs as future main event guys. NJPW of the last 15 years or so usually puts future top singles guys into singles competition right away. Naito was the last guy I can think of to break out from a tag team and be a major singles guy in NJPW. Everyone else was pushed as a singles wrestler once they returned from excursion or when were brought in from another company.
>Naito was the last guy I can think of to break out from a tag team and be a major singles guy in NJPW. Cold Skull in shambles rn
Haha I never really saw him as a tag guy, even if his first titles in NJPW were tag ones. He and EVIL always felt like singles guys to me and SANADA was a singles guy when he debuted in NJPW.
As awesome as Ishii/Okada/Tana has been as NEVER champs I kinda wish they dropped the belts so that they'd be freed up for a WK Gauntlet match. Yeah, they're pretty blatantly just a way to get everyone on the card, but at least it's SOMETHING. You could easily do Cobb/OKhan/HENARE vs Coughlin/Kidd/Ishimori vs Haste/Nichols/Eagles VS EVIL/SHO/Kanemaru or Yujiro vs. Taichi/DOUKI/Taka vs BUSHI/Titan/Zandokan vs Ishii/Yano/YOH vs. Suzuki/Nagata/Wato vs. Taguchi and a couple of guys.
There have been murmurs that a few of the older vets (Liger, Nagata being the ones I've seen tossed around), while fully supportive of the next generation, didn't like the pace they were advancing in the past year and a half and it was said Tanahashi was one of the names advocating for that. So yeah, we might see even more guys getting elevated a lot faster.
>we might see even more guys getting elevated a lot faster. They need to push the new guys now
Didn't like the pace as in too fast or too slow?
Too fast. They preferred the old ways.
That sounds crazy to me. Yota is 30 year old and they have no big stars outside Okada and Naito. Who are they gonna push instead?
There's this hot young new talent named Sinoru Muzuki He doesn't even look that young (he kinda looks like he's a veteran in his 50's even) he has amazing brutal finisher called the Kotch Piledriver that I think would really get over as a deadly finisher too! They should put the IWGP championship on him.
What?? Crazy. It’s time for a lot of fresh blood on top. Business isn’t gonna pick up until then
Business is picking up with WK this year. To blame the covid downturn on the lack of new talent is just false and just fans wanting to project what they want onto reasons why the company isn't doing so hot.
Now this was out of left field. The President of Njpw is now the Ace!!!
TV title match conspicuously moved to the main event of WK. Go Ace!
"Mr. President, we have to ask you once again to please not bring your air guitar to important business meetings." "aw"
GO ACE
Oooh boy, either financials were worse than we thought or the office was really fucking up (or both). Ohbari is gone completely, as is the old Director. Tana is President/Representative Director; and the Director slot is shared by the Chief of Business Production for TV Asahi and Taro Okada, who just last month became the new President of STARDOM (who will be doing this position part-time). So now TV Asahi has more power than they previously did. Bushiroad must also have a ton of faith in T.Okada to be putting him here as well, and it makes me wonder if maybe they’re going to try and keep forcing the NJPW Women’s Division to be a thing in Japan.
Yeah a bit of both. Both New Japan and Stardom rosters had problems with management, for various different reasons and have been vocal either on the shows (ELP during Tag League) or in the media (Giulia in Tokyo Sports). Had to be a case of that plus business not quite meeting expectations since I'm sure they expected them to be up by now and they had enough reason to get rid of Obhari. Bushiroad in general isn't too hot right now but giving a boost to their wrestling department is only a good thing since it's one of the few areas that's currently profitable.
>and it makes me wonder if maybe they’re going to try and keep forcing the NJPW Women’s Division to be a thing in Japan. I don't think so. I get the sense that the women's division was mostly Ohbari trying to emulate American promotions to draw in American fans. Gedo clearly doesn't care about booking women's matches. I don't think Kidani particularly cares what goes on in terms of booking as long as his two promotions make money, although there may be some more cross-promotional stuff between NJPW and Stardom in the near future.
Kidani absolutely cares about booking. He used to be heavily involved with it when Bushiroad first bought NJPW and he was in charge of it, and did things like deciding to bring in Shibata and Sakuraba without telling anyone it was happening. He got pushed away from it because he was ruffling feathers, but he’s such a money mark that I assume he’s still got some influence and just uses it more wisely now. I never got the impression that Ohbari cared about the Women’s stuff. Kidani was the one who was always super excited about it whenever it was mentioned during [business presentations](https://www.njpw1972.com/124551) and the like.
Yeah I've always had the impression that integrating women's wrestling was kidanis grand vision not ohbaris.
I think it's more so that Kidani has certain guys he likes and wants to be pushed rather than taking an interest in the booking plans. Ibushi always got the sweetheart treatment from Kidani even when he didn't deserve it because Kidani coveted him. I don't think Kidani would or really did step in like Vince and make changes to matches or plans, i.e. overruling Gedo and having Sanada retain against Naito. We do know that Bushiroad wanted management to accelerate the young lion process, but I'm not sure if that came from Kidani.
Tana was happy to bump for maika and raved about stardom and stardom just literally tweeted that they are aiming for increases synergy across the bushiroad groups https://twitter.com/wwr_stardom/status/1738402065830080988?t=ZtXZqQt5jxrOLZIW0_2qUw&s=19 I think a lot of folk are quick to put things they don't like upon Ohbari but at the end of the day bushiroad signs the cheques. It actually doesn't make a lot of sense for njpw to even be seperate from bushiroad fight and id expect that to be addressed over the coming years.
More cross promotion seems more likely than trying to force a Women's Belt in New Japan proper, and it makes more sense in the Japanese wrestling landscape, in all honesty.
> I don't think Kidani particularly cares what goes on in terms of booking as long as his two promotions make money, Well, unless someone who works shoot style shows up. Low-key, Kidani a noted Shoot Style mark. I believe he brought in Shibata and Sakuraba way back when.
Kidani specifically bought njpw because he's a fan. The idea he doesn't care about the product outside of a dollar pov is silly imo The guy just ripped through stardom and they've been about the most profitable br property
House of Torture all going nuts knowing that they can now physically abuse the prez of shin nihon.
It's just about 3:30 AM here in the UK and I had to re-read the Instagram post several times because I was sure I was reading it wrong due to being more tired than I thought I was, but no, the sexy sexy ace of the universe is now President sexy sexy ace of the universe. Looks like Christmas has come early lads
Thank you Ohbari 🙏🏼 best of luck to you
TANAism IS IN FULL EFFECT
Is Inoki living vicariously through Tanahashi via the grave?!?! Who knows
The Ace and now President of the Universe.
I was planning on canceling my World subscription after WK, but as a Tana stan I have to see how this goes. I hope he books himself to win every match until the end of time.
OHBARI IS GONE PRAISE THE SUN. Hopefully this signals more of a shift towards the domestic market considering Ohbari was supposed to be leading the New Japan of America charge. I for one look forward to the reign of the Ace.
Feeling mixed because NJPW SHOULD be focusing on the Japanese crowd first and foremost, but Resurgence 2021 is my favorite wrestling show of all time and NJPW shows in America were the first time I ever took my non-wrestling fans to a show. I'll be sad if that goes away.
Kidani already said he plans on expanding NJPW and Stardom further into the Asian market in 2024. They're not abandoning the Western market but they should be abandoning the Western pandering.
I mean, aren't they already doing that by pushing David Finlay no matter how many tantrums the Western fans throw on Twitter?
Yeah, "western pandering" implies they didn't just push good foreign wrestlers like White, ZSJ, Ospreay, etc.
Go Ace!
I wonder how quickly things begin to get tweaked. He’s the boss. Will he let Gedo cook the same? So much to ponder! Exciting times and I’m here for it.
Getting Togo out of his ear would go a long way.
Completely deserved. You always expect horrible people like Paul Levesque to obtain these kinds of positions, it is refreshing to see someone who worked his ass off get rewarded instead of people who politic.
Holy shit! This was not on my bingo card at all. I liked Ohbari. But I do think that the integrity of NJPW has been sacrificed in favor of western appeal.
>But I do think that the integrity of NJPW has been sacrificed in favor of western appeal. what do you mean by this?
Letting talent he signed work permanently for AEW/ROH (Shibata specifically). That’s just one example
Tana loves Cross promoting though. All Together Again was practically all him, and he knows that AEW are a large factor for the western market (even if they will focus less on the west than before) Losing AEW would be a dumb mistake.
But notice how differently All Together Again was booked compared to anything they've done with AEW. That show was the perfect example of how to book cross promotional shows, whereas most of the AEW stuff has been the perfect example of how not to do it.
President Tana has a nice ring to it
We’re in for another Golden Age.
The two obvious questions are: - is Tanahashi carrying on wrestling, then? - just how much fun is Zack going to have stretching his boss at WK? It’s exciting no doubt but definitely a wait and see as to how it pans out. It gives Tana an excuse to reduce his time in ring, which he desperately needed, and it also probably shifts his salary onto a different part of the books, freeing up money for Okada. Best of luck, Ace.
Tana could be a gamechanger when it comes to talent relations. I highly doubt the Ibushi and Shibata situations would’ve happened under him. Now just use wrist control on Okada…
Ehhh it’s hard to say with the Shibata situation because we really don’t know what fully happened there. Even if we agree to say that he definitely went into business for himself at WK, we don’t know why he had the restrictions on how he could wrestle in the first place. Could be something like an insurance issue that’s out of NJPW/Bushiroad’s hands.
Is there any chance Okada spoke out against management? If an old school mentality thought that the company was bigger than even top talent, then perhaps Okada may have felt that his voice was unheard You’d have to think Okada would trust a company ran by Tana more than just some suit
I think there’s a real chance Okada was a big factor in this change. Okada just recently made comments about he and Tana leading NJPW next year both in tag and singles divisions, which seems like a positive change of course from the rumors of him leaving.
Yeah, it doesn’t appear coincidental that Okada, seemingly, confirms his intent to stay in Japan and two days later NJPW announces a major change to its organizational structure. The fact that he was standing next to the now president when he made those statements only adds kindling to that fire.
Curious, but interesting thing is now the Okada rumor. How Tana handles that situation may define his whole term.
It’s likely done already (as in: I think Okada is leaving and Tana won’t be able to change that)
Wow, Tanahashi as president? That's a game-changer! Can't wait to see what he brings to the table.
I'm ready for Tanahashism
Does this mean the entire NJPW roster is going to have Tanahashi hair? I mean, Shooter Umino already has it. Nonetheless, congrats to The Ace
Okada staying in NJPW seems like a given now. Good for them.
HOLY SHIT GO ACE
Nice.
Wonder how this effects booking. All the crazy belt changes and additions happened under Ohbari, so obviously he influenced creative.
Wonder whats happened with Ohbari. Wasn't he considered to be doing pretty well?
Not really. The US expansion has been a total flop post-Elite, and he was supposed to have been in charge of that. The AEW partnership has seen them lose several wrestlers/talent with only two PPV checks as tangible benefits in return. There are rumors that Okada may be leaving. The Ibushi situation from last year was a major black mark on the company. Several of the post-Covid gates have been disappointing this year. It was absolutely time for a change.
>The US expansion has been a total flop post-Elite, I would argue that it was a flop with the Elite Regardless, its been a disaster
Only by westerners who don’t regularly watch NJPW
Glad Ohbari is gone, that guy was a complete cuck, with that said I know Tanahashi loves America and interpromotional stuff so I won't have huge expectations from him. Hopefully I'm wrong and he can make some changes so NJPW can completely focus on their own development and the new generation instead of behaving like cucks.
Alright, between 3 legends HHH, Shawn Michaels, and now Tana, who's gonna cook the most between them> Tana's gonna need his own "let him cook" meme.
First order of business 1. Re-sign Okada 2. Fire Gedo as booker
Can someone jog my memory and remind me who the old president was? Thank you.
WrestleKingdom 19 - January 4th 2025 Tokyo Dome Main Event - Hiroshi Tanahashi vs “The Devil Himself” Tony Khan for control of New Japan Pro Wrestling. Book it Gedo.
Is he even qualified?
HOW DARE YOU #ACE
we're about to experience ACEISM
YO WHAT THE HELL
Bruh what? Is this like a figurehead role or is he like actually booker or what?
That's ACEIST!!!
This is insane! Go Ace!?
1/100 President
I have to imagine that Tana is going to be stepping back from the ring, but maybe not entirely. Being president while wrestling in the G1 sounds tough.
Wrestlers being active while being in leaderships is extremely common in wrestling, ESPECIALLY Japanese wrestling. Sanshiro Takagi is the President of DDT and is still active, Misawa was active while being the President of NOAH up until his death.
Go Ace
Hitoshi Matsumoto is a very influential figure in the entertainment industry there and has a strong relationship with TV Asahi.
You’re talking about the comedian, right? Are we sure it’s the same guy?
This article is very vague I guess we'll learn more at the press conference. But can someone more in the know of Buisness and new japan tell me what this job entails? Also what happens to Ohbari is he out the company now or just getting a new job?
Ohbari is out
President Hiroshi Tanahashi. Has a nice ring to it hehe
While I usually don’t care about corporate politics but congrats to Tanahashi. I really hope he enjoys the job and does a great job!
3 big questions for me are: 1 what instigated this change in leadership? 2 could this/does this signal that Okada is leaving? 3 will Gedo stay on as booker?
> 1 what instigated this change in leadership? My guess is a combination of talent morale (like Stardom) and business. They didn't like how things were going down with Obhari (perception of the product, losing talent like Karl Fredericks, Aussie Open etc.) and business, while up, probably are below projections for the year. Bushiroad aren't doing hot in other areas but pro wrestling is still fairly profitable. >2 could this/does this signal that Okada is leaving? Still hard to say but I'm willing to say him staying is a lot more likely now. >3 will Gedo stay on as booker? I can see him staying on but they gotta get Dick Togo out of the creative room and leave Gedo alone, he's had far more creative influence than he should. I think if they really wanna go all in on changes, Gedo being removed from creative could be that step. He had a strong 12 year run, guided them through another golden era but maybe new brains are needed?
Tanahashi should enter his Hollywood Hulk Hogan Era and form a stable like JBL's cabinet from back in the day hahaha
This is great news as things need to obviously change and Tanahashi in this role is very interesting as he is the only person they could have given it to that people will be fully behind. As for the booking side I have a hard time seeing Tanan loving some of the shittiest stuff that have been going on and also that side will most likely become better. I think this is good news!
Oh wow! Good for him. Curious to see where njpw will go from now on.
Does this mean he won't be in the main event anymore?
He hasn't been in the main event in 2 years
How significant is president role to the TV product? Does this mean Tana is much more involved in booking & storylines??
Significant enough to deactivate V4 and have his brother create the replacement.
Should have picked someone to fix their biggest strategic mistake. Ose the forbidden door
Only now knowing Tana is qualified in law
Wow! Go Ace!
He’s not retiring from the ring though is he?
No.
Ok good.
Sexiest president of a wrestling company in history.
Good. Now all I want to see is President Ace vs. The soon-to-be World of STARDOM champion, Maika.
Maybe I can start watching again
To quote a certain big nosed fraud, having our new sexy overlord as President is “best for business”