Update On NJPW Expansion To U.S.
New Japan Pro Wrestling owner Takaaki Kidani conducted a video interview with Kevin Kelly earlier this week with more details about the upcoming NJPW events in Los Angeles this summer as well as future plans for the promotion's expansion into the United States. New Japan will hold events July 1 and 2 in Los Angeles, dubbed as "G1 Special USA."
Kidani told Kelly that for now, NJPW didn't have any other events planned in the U.S. "but if this event is a success, we already have a plan to go back to the United States next year and long-term."
You can watch Kidani's full interview at this link.
In December, Kidani said that New Japan was going to be more aggressive in expanding, tweeting that "The reason why we decided to go U.S. is what WWE did to us one years ago." Kidani was referring to WWE signing Shinsuke Nakamura, AJ Styles, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows right after Wrestle Kingdom in January of 2015.
NJPW also has an event planned in Australia later this year.
New Japan released more information on ticket sales for the two events in Los Angeles, noting that all tickets for both events sold out in less than two hours.
"We want to thank the fans from over 37 states in the US that purchased tickets," the article said, in part. "Fans from as far away as Anchorage, Alaska and Honolulu, HI will be flying in to witness these amazing events. Fans from Canada were also lucky enough to get through."
