NJPW President Takami Ohbari Discusses Partnership With AEW And IMPACT Wrestling
Ever since Jon Moxley appeared on NJPW Strong in January, the forbidden door in wrestling has been open.
Moxley’s arrival on Strong, NJPW’s US-based brand, signaled a deeper partnership between NJPW and AEW that went beyond certain guys going to Japan for one-off matches. KENTA would appear on multiple episodes of AEW Dynamite, Moxley defended his IWGP US Title against KENTA on Strong, and IMPACT got involved with NJPW’s David Finlay & Juice Robinson joining the promotion.
Speaking to NJPW’s website, NJPW President Takami Ohbari discussed his promotions involvement in dealing with AEW and IMPACT.
“I think [talent crossing] is something that doesn’t just apply to STRONG but NJPW at large. For me to say ‘NJPW is doing business with company X, so you need to go over there and wrestle’, that’s backward to me. I will say this until I’m blue in the face: this is a star driven business, and the wrestlers are the focus. So if our wrestlers say ‘I want to wrestle that guy’ ‘I want to test myself against that guy’ ‘I want to show that I’m better than that guy’. Then it becomes our job as a company to do what we can to back them, make it happen and make it successful. We’re in the dream business. Presenting them, and making them real. Having a linear approach to business, that only restricts us and it stops fans getting invested,” he said.
The crossover will continue in May as Yugi Nagata will challenge Moxley for the IWGP US Title on the May 12 episode of AEW Dynamite. Plus, El Phantasmo will appear on the May 6 episode of IMPACT Wrestling.
