Post by bgski on Oct 17, 2019 14:15:28 GMT -8
According to a number of net outlets, Bushiroad which is the parent company of New Japan who was sold to by Yukes (yes that Yukes) not to long ago in 2012 recently purchased what is quite possibly the biggest Joshi promotion in Japan Stardom who has had some of their best signed to WWE like Kana aka Asuka, Kairi Hojo aka Kairi Sane and of course one of the most dominant World of Stardom Champions in Io Shirai.
This news was said to have come out from Yahoo Sports Japan with a bit of details from one of these outlets.
According to a report from Yahoo Japan, Bushroad did purchase the company and it is expected to be officially announced on October 17 after approval from the board of directors. Stardom's official twitter account would go on to confirm the news.
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The news is significant as this means both New Japan Pro-Wrestling and STARDOM will be under the same umbrella but there is still no word on whether or not this means NJPW will eventually integrate a women's division. STARDOM is not only one of the biggest all-female wrestling companies in Japan, but also in the world.
The report also stated that Bushiroad's interest in women's wrestling started around last fall. It was in February when Bushiroad would contact STARDOM's owner Rossy Ogawa. A meeting between Bushiroad president Takaaki Kidani and Ogawa took place in April with the deal becoming complete in August. The report would also go on to note Kidani's interest in women's wrestling, mentioning WWE moving on from the term "Diva" in 2016 to describe its female talent and simply referring to them as "Superstars" just as they would for the men as an example.
STARDOM has had many top female talent wrestle for them throughout the years and some of them would go on to compete for WWE, such as Kairi Sane and Io Shirai. Other STARDOM talent such as Riho and Bea Priestley wrestle stateside for All Elite Wrestling.
Joshi is one of my absolute favorite types of wrestling both since their not apart of just some division in bigger and more well known promotions here in the states but don't get me wrong their are some great female wrestlers out their like Tessa Blanchard, Cheerleader Melissa, Allysin Kay and Candice Lerae but overall I don't think the companies come anywhere near what Joshi has been doing since the 90's, in fact I made the argument elsewhere a few years back when I was watching WWE more than I would nowadays when they would tout about how they were creating a so called womens evolution but even if you for those that don't acknowledge this, were already a number other companies here in the US that's done it better just on a smaller scale and yes WWE has made some strides since then with last years Wrestlemania main event being almost a culmination of this regardless of who was in all the while Joshi was already light years ahead with a number of females that are now considered legends to many like Manami Toyota, Akira Hokuto, Aja Kong, Bull Nakano (who WWF would bring in but not long term) and Mayumi Ozaki with modern promotions consisting of Ice Ribbon, Sendai Girls, OZ Academy and the aforementioned Stardom.
Pertaining to the earlier statement about those American promotions that popped up over the years, places like Shimmer, Chickfight, Women of Wrestling (WOW) and one of the more recent companies SHINE just to name a some are alot of fun to watch but I digress.
For sometime there's been talks about why New Japan don't have a women's division or whether they'll ever have one and while I personally don't Bushiroad acquiring Stardom will see them adding females to their roster, it's worth noting that they could be taking a DDT approach and what I mean by that is not how DDT operates in general with having intergender matches but more like adding their own seperate brand of Joshi acting like it's a different company all together, Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling (TJPW) is one of the main reasons I subscribed to DDT with Maki Ito, Miyu Yamashita, Mizuki, Reika Saiki along with the pro wrestling version of the Up Up Girls Noa Hikari, Hinano, Watanabe Miu, Raku) always keeping me entertained but to be honest I love the entire roster, these are my personal stand outs.
Now of course Stardom is it's own company and is much more well known which makes it interesting for Bushiroad to purchase, one of the reasons for this interest do to who their current World of Stardom Champion is in Bea Priestley who is also signed to AEW but I don't know the full extent of her contract and being that she resides in Japan with her man and one of my personal favorites Will Ospreay I don't see it being long term butI could be wrong? I guess it helps that both are within the same company so to speak.
Whether or not we actually do get any content from Stardom on the New Japan app remains to be seen.
This news was said to have come out from Yahoo Sports Japan with a bit of details from one of these outlets.
Bushiroad, the parent company of New Japan Pro-Wrestling, has reportedly purchased STARDOM.
According to a report from Yahoo Japan, Bushroad did purchase the company and it is expected to be officially announced on October 17 after approval from the board of directors. Stardom's official twitter account would go on to confirm the news.
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The news is significant as this means both New Japan Pro-Wrestling and STARDOM will be under the same umbrella but there is still no word on whether or not this means NJPW will eventually integrate a women's division. STARDOM is not only one of the biggest all-female wrestling companies in Japan, but also in the world.
The report also stated that Bushiroad's interest in women's wrestling started around last fall. It was in February when Bushiroad would contact STARDOM's owner Rossy Ogawa. A meeting between Bushiroad president Takaaki Kidani and Ogawa took place in April with the deal becoming complete in August. The report would also go on to note Kidani's interest in women's wrestling, mentioning WWE moving on from the term "Diva" in 2016 to describe its female talent and simply referring to them as "Superstars" just as they would for the men as an example.
STARDOM has had many top female talent wrestle for them throughout the years and some of them would go on to compete for WWE, such as Kairi Sane and Io Shirai. Other STARDOM talent such as Riho and Bea Priestley wrestle stateside for All Elite Wrestling.
Joshi is one of my absolute favorite types of wrestling both since their not apart of just some division in bigger and more well known promotions here in the states but don't get me wrong their are some great female wrestlers out their like Tessa Blanchard, Cheerleader Melissa, Allysin Kay and Candice Lerae but overall I don't think the companies come anywhere near what Joshi has been doing since the 90's, in fact I made the argument elsewhere a few years back when I was watching WWE more than I would nowadays when they would tout about how they were creating a so called womens evolution but even if you for those that don't acknowledge this, were already a number other companies here in the US that's done it better just on a smaller scale and yes WWE has made some strides since then with last years Wrestlemania main event being almost a culmination of this regardless of who was in all the while Joshi was already light years ahead with a number of females that are now considered legends to many like Manami Toyota, Akira Hokuto, Aja Kong, Bull Nakano (who WWF would bring in but not long term) and Mayumi Ozaki with modern promotions consisting of Ice Ribbon, Sendai Girls, OZ Academy and the aforementioned Stardom.
Pertaining to the earlier statement about those American promotions that popped up over the years, places like Shimmer, Chickfight, Women of Wrestling (WOW) and one of the more recent companies SHINE just to name a some are alot of fun to watch but I digress.
For sometime there's been talks about why New Japan don't have a women's division or whether they'll ever have one and while I personally don't Bushiroad acquiring Stardom will see them adding females to their roster, it's worth noting that they could be taking a DDT approach and what I mean by that is not how DDT operates in general with having intergender matches but more like adding their own seperate brand of Joshi acting like it's a different company all together, Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling (TJPW) is one of the main reasons I subscribed to DDT with Maki Ito, Miyu Yamashita, Mizuki, Reika Saiki along with the pro wrestling version of the Up Up Girls Noa Hikari, Hinano, Watanabe Miu, Raku) always keeping me entertained but to be honest I love the entire roster, these are my personal stand outs.
Now of course Stardom is it's own company and is much more well known which makes it interesting for Bushiroad to purchase, one of the reasons for this interest do to who their current World of Stardom Champion is in Bea Priestley who is also signed to AEW but I don't know the full extent of her contract and being that she resides in Japan with her man and one of my personal favorites Will Ospreay I don't see it being long term butI could be wrong? I guess it helps that both are within the same company so to speak.
Whether or not we actually do get any content from Stardom on the New Japan app remains to be seen.