An interesting quote from AJ Styles’ latest Phenomenally Retro podcast has been making the rounds, and seemed worthy of your consideration and hopefully discussion.
Since retiring after this year’s Royal Rumble, Styles is now focused on finding and developing future WWE stars. As someone who was reinvigorated by a run in Japan after leaving TNA, AJ is understandably interested in how the wrestling scene there can be a part of his new job.
In particular, Styles is focused on something his boss Triple
H was for a while back in more peaceful times for WWE — acquiring an existing Japanese promotion.
In the modern day, AJ said:
“…give me something over in Japan. Oh, man, I would love WWE to find a way to be in Japan kind of like the way AAA is. We’re not changing what they’re doing. We’re not trying to change the culture. We’re just putting our spin on it, man.”
The product AAA, the lucha libre promotion WWE acquired last year, has definitely been hot this year, and head booker The Undertaker has talked about bringing the WWE style to Mexican wrestling culture without changing it. I’ve seen some quibbles with how much talking that’s added to AAA’s show, but I haven’t seen anyone quibble with the less chaotic storytelling.
Would something similar work in Japan? The Japanese have a long history of being skeptical of and hostile to outsiders in many aspects of society, and one of the reasons we heard Triple H’s NXT Japan dream died was because WWE couldn’t find anyone who sell to a gaijin company. Maybe TKO is an acceptably global suitor for a smaller Japanese promotion?
Styles name dropped Shinsuke Nakamura and IYO SKY as Japan-to-WWE success stories, and envisions more exchanges of talent between WWE US and the company’s hypothetical Japanese brand, similar to how New Japan’s Young Lions go on excursion to their lucha partner, CMLL. He then continued:
“I believe that with the help of WWE, we would be able to revive Japanese wrestling to where it was. I would love to see it back where it’s the Tokyo Dome. I’m talking about not like a WrestleMania over there. I’m just saying it’s the company selling out the Tokyo Dome like it did in what was it, the early 90s? But yeah, that’d be up to the talent.”
Pinning down accurate wrestling attendance figures is a full-time job, especially as you go back in time. But we know attendance is down for Japanese wrestling, and it does seem like Tokyo Dome sellouts were something we heard about more in the past — but New Japan did say Wrestle Kingdom 20, Hiroshi Tanahashi’s retirement show this past January 4, sold out the stadium.
I don’t doubt WWE could put together a show that could sellout houses all over Japan. But getting a promotion other than NJPW (and probably even them) to the level where they’re doing so consistently, and without just booking Roman Reigns vs. The Rock every night, will be a tall task.
What do you think, Cagesiders? Should WWE move into the Japanese market? Could they succeed? Would that be good or bad for wrestling in Japan or at large, or even WWE?
Let us know in the comments, down below the full episode of Phenomenally Retro the above quotes come from (and probably a bunch of other stuff).
