New Japan Pro-Wrestling Co., Ltd.
– NJPW) is a major professional wrestling
promotion in Japan, founded in June 1972 by
Antonio Inoki, who sold the promotion to video
game developer Yuke's in 2005 and sold in
2012 to Bushiroad.
Kaname Tezuka is the current President of
the promotion and has held that position from
September 2013, when the previous president,
Naoki Sugabayashi, was promoted to Chairman.
Owing to its TV program aired on TV Asahi,
it is the largest wrestling promotion in Japan
and the second largest in the world in terms
of attendance and revenue.
From its creation in 1972 until 1986, NJPW
was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance.
NJPW is known for openly engaging in working
agreements with various MMA and pro wrestling
promotions around the world, including: World
Wrestling Entertainment, World Championship
Wrestling, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling,
Full Impact Pro, WAR, Ring of Honor, Pride
Fighting Championships, and Jersey All Pro
Wrestling and various other MMA and pro wrestling
promotions.
NJPW's biggest event of the year is the January
4th at the Tokyo Dome, an event they have
held each year since 1992, currently promoted
under the Wrestle Kingdom banner.
History
Originally founded by Antonio Inoki in 1972,
New Japan Pro Wrestling, also known as "Shin
Nihon Puroresu", is considered the top promotion
in Japan and is comparable to WWE in the United
States in terms of popularity in the country.
They promote events throughout Japan with
their biggest event being their annual blowout
show held every year on January 4 at the Tokyo
Dome, currently billed as Wrestle Kingdom,
which is Japan's version of WWE's annual WrestleMania
event.
In the past they have worked with WWE, World
Championship Wrestling, and Total Nonstop
Action Wrestling among others and currently
have a working agreement with Mexican Consejo
Mundial de Lucha Libre promotion and American
National Wrestling Alliance governing body,
additionally they occasionally do cross-promotion
matches with other Japanese promotions, such
as All Japan Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling
Noah.
The promotion is currently owned by Japanese
card game company Bushiroad, who parlayed
their entry to the world of professional wrestling
into a best-selling trading card game, King
of Pro Wrestling, and appearances from NJPW
stars in their various franchises.
The promotion also has its own governing body,
the International Wrestling Grand Prix.
Thus all the promotion's titles are referred
to as IWGP Championships.
They currently have six titles: Heavyweight,
Junior Heavyweight, Tag Team, Junior Heavyweight
Tag Team, Intercontinental and the NEVER Openweight
Championship.
They also hold several tournaments each year,
including G1 Climax, World Tag League, New
Japan Cup and Best of the Super Juniors.
The promotion debuted a new series called
NEVER in August 2010, designed to be a series
of events spotlighting younger up-and-coming
talent and feature more outsider participation
in the promotion.
On January 4, 2011, New Japan Pro Wrestling
officially announced the NJPW Invasion Tour
2011: Attack on East Coast, the promotion's
first tour of the United States in May 2011,
when they held shows in Rahway, New Jersey
on May 13, New York City on May 14 and Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania on May 15.
As part of the tour, NJPW introduced a new
title, the IWGP Intercontinental Championship.
On January 31, 2012, Yuke's announced that
it had sold all shares of New Japan Pro Wrestling
to card game company Bushiroad for ¥500 million.
New Japan aired its first internet pay-per-view,
the fourth day of the 2012 G1 Climax, on August
5, 2012.
The October 8, 2012, King of Pro-Wrestling
pay-per-view marked the first time viewers
outside of Japan were able to order a pay-per-view
by the promotion through Ustream.
On October 5, 2012, New Japan announced the
creation of the NEVER Openweight Championship,
which would be contested for on the NEVER
series.
A two-day tournament to determine the inaugural
champion was held between November 15 and
19, 2012.
In February 2014, New Japan announced a partnership
with Ring of Honor, which saw the promotion
return to North America the following May
to present two supershows; Global Wars and
War of the Worlds.
During the tour, New Japan wrestlers also
took part in an event held by Canadian promotion
Border City Wrestling.
On June 21, 2014, New Japan announced a partnership
with the new American Global Force Wrestling
promotion.
Roster
Current championships
The championships recognized by NJPW are called
International Wrestling Grand Prix.
Tournaments
NJPW Greatest Wrestlers
The NJPW Greatest Wrestlers is NJPW's hall
of fame, established in 2007 to honor wrestlers
who have wrestled for the promotion.
Inductees
Footnotes
References
External links
Official website
Official merchandise store
Official Ustream channel
Bushiroad official website
Puroresu.com: New Japan Pro-Wrestling
Wrestling-Titles.com: New Japan Pro-Wrestling
Strong Style Spirit - NJPW Fan Page
World Pro Wrestling - NJPW official program
- TV Asahi
