New Japan Pro Wrestling’s parent company, Bushiroad has officially purchased the all-woman’s Japanese promotion, World Wonder Ring Stardom.
Stardom confirmed the purchase on Twitter, along with a series of Twitter posts confirming the purchase and providing further details on the future of the Stardom promotion. You can view the Twitter posts below this report.
The main details of the purchase are as follows:
New Japan and Stardom, although owned by the same parent company will be run and kept completely separate.
Takaaki Kitani, Bushiroad, founder and chairman of NJPW, took recent interest in the Stardom promotion.
According to reports, he and Stardom owner and co-founder Rossy Ogawa first met in back April. The sales agreement was completed in August.
Stardom will be under the umbrella of Kix Road, which is the parent company of Knock Out, the Bushiroad kickboxing company.
As part of the deal, Kix Road Ltd, on December 1, 2019 will have its name officially changed to Bushiroad Fight Co, Ltd. It is being said that there are no plans for any interaction between Knock out and Stardom.
Reports also indicate that Hiroshi “Rossy” Ogawa will remain CEO of the women’s wrestling promotion, which will remain using the name Stardom. However the company of World Wonder Ring Stardom will no longer exist going forward.
Some Bushiroad staff will be joining Stardom to work in the front office but the Stardom staff will stay in place.
Bushiroad’s role will be doing advertising and television to build the popularity of the brand. As part of the deal, a 30 minute television show will air on BS NTV and Tokyo MX beginning in January 2020 every Thursday.
The streaming service Stardom World will still remain as the exclusive online service for Stardom events. However, New Japan World will not be streaming Stardom, and with New Japan World partially owned by TV-Asahi, and the Stardom TV deal with rival TV station NTV, a streaming agreement would be almost impossible at this point.
There are no plans at present for Stardom talent or NJPW talent to appear on each other’s shows. However, Stardom talent will also be signed to full-time contracts.
On occasion the WWE would allow some of their talents to perform for Stardom, such as current NXT UK star Toni Storm.
As of this report, there is no official word on if WWE talent will still be allowed to appear for Stardom going forward.
Sources: F4WOnline, Yahoo Japan, uproxx
— We Are Stardom (@we_are_stardom) October 17, 2019
1: As reported today on the front cover of Tokyo Sports newspaper, Stardom is now a part of Bushiroad.
Stardom is no longer a corporation and becomes part of the Bushiroad group “Kix Road”. Kickboxing promotion “Knock Out” is also a part of Kix Road.
— We Are Stardom (@we_are_stardom) October 17, 2019
2: On December 1, 2019, the company name will be changed from Kix Road Co., Ltd. to Bushiroad Fight Co., Ltd.
Rossy Ogawa (Hiroshi Ogawa) will remain the Chief Executive Officer of Stardom. The name of the wrestling promotion remains Stardom.— We Are Stardom (@we_are_stardom) October 17, 2019
3: BS Nippon Television broadcasting, advertising and global development will begin shortly thereafter.
The first big show will be held on April 29, 2020 at Tokyo’s Ota Ward Gym.
In 2021 there will be a big 10th anniversary show.— We Are Stardom (@we_are_stardom) October 17, 2019
4: in 2020 Stardom will run Korakuen Hall 14 times. August 8 & 9, 2020 Stardom will run Korakuen Hall on consecutive days. Details will come later.
— We Are Stardom (@we_are_stardom) October 17, 2019
5: December 7th and 8th, 2019 Stardom will take part in "CharaExpo USA 2019" held at the Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim ,CA. Stardom will put on the following tag team match: Mayu Iwatani & Tam Nakano vs. Sumie Sakai & Nicole Savoy. pic.twitter.com/Kkw5xIwPyr
— We Are Stardom (@we_are_stardom) October 17, 2019
6: A TV program will air on BS NTV and TOKYO MX beginning in January 2020. On BS NTV (every Thursday 24: 30 ~) and TOKYO MX (this one is a 30 minute program).
Stardom World will remain as it is.— We Are Stardom (@we_are_stardom) October 17, 2019
7: Bushiroad in regards to contracts: “We will create contracts with each wrestler. We want to create an environment where the wrestlers can concentrate on pro wrestling, and we are expecting to bring in excellent wrestlers from all over the world.
— We Are Stardom (@we_are_stardom) October 17, 2019
8:”We would like to listen to the thoughts of each wrestler and take those thoughts into account when creating this new work environment.”
— We Are Stardom (@we_are_stardom) October 17, 2019
9: Advertising / Global marketing Strategy by Bushiroad will begin starting in January 2020 to include more "Weekly Pro-Wrestling" coverage, traffic advertisements, TV spots, etc., in addition to guest appearances at events hosted by Bushi Road.
— We Are Stardom (@we_are_stardom) October 17, 2019