New Japan/Puroresu Thread

[Dr. Zoidberg]

[Ocelot]

No. He does not have the it factor. Yelling and screaming with blood in your mouth does not make you over.

[Bandit]

The problem with New Japan right now is they have a bunch of people with nothing left to do but most of the newer talent isn't ready yet. And the one guy in his prime is leaving for AEW in a few months. Which is why it's good they're going to be bringing in Nemeth, Ali and Riddle.

[Ocelot]

That's been one of the biggest problems with the Ace strategy that the Japanese companies have used for a long time. If you center an entire promotion on one person, you ignore the rest of the talent and set yourself up for all kinds of disaster when that talent is ready to bail. It damn near killed both All Japan and New Japan at various points.

[Bandit]

Very true. New Japan had 8 years between Hashimoto dying, Muta leaving and Nagata being ruined by Inoki forcing him into MMA and Tanahashi and Okada. All Japan never recovered from NOAH defections.

[Bandit]

New Japan announced Okada will be leaving at the end of February.

[Dr. Zoidberg]

I wonder where he will end up? There should be a decent bidding war for him.

[Bandit]

[Bandit]

According to Japanese Twitter accounts they're saying New Japan believes Okada is going to WWE and if he does their television network is probably going to give WWE a better timeslot for the show he's on.

Another thing to think about is Okada is best friends with Nakamura.

[Bandit]

He's a smart guy. Nobody gets wrestlers better deals than Barry Bloom has since the 90s

[Dr. Zoidberg]

[Dr. Zoidberg]

Regarding the cancellation of the contract with Mr. Rossy Ogawa

To all concerned and fans

Thank you very much for always supporting Stardom.

Bushiroad Fight Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as the "Company") has canceled the outsourcing contract with Mr. Rossy Ogawa (hereinafter referred to as the "Agreement") as of February 4 , 2024 . I would like to report what happened.

Since 2019 , our company has entered into a contract with Rossy Ogawa, the founder of Stardom, and has appointed him as an executive producer and outsourced work related to Stardom. However, we would like to inform you that we have come to know that he has poached many Stardom players and staff members, and we have decided to cancel this contract.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you. As a company, we will continue to aim for the further development of Stardom, and the players and staff will continue to work together to deliver excitement to the fans, so we will continue to receive the same compliments as before. I am very fortunate.

Thank you for your understanding.

February 5 , 2024 Bushiroad Fight Co.,　Ltd.

https://wwr-stardom.com/news/20240205-4/

[Bandit]

Meltzer said Ogawa already told Bushiroad he was going to quit in February months ago but they fired him to make him look bad because the belief is he's starting up another company.

[Bandit]

Stardom founder and booker Rossy Ogawa was fired today by Bushiroad after being accused of attempting to poach talent to leave the promotion.

The story dates back about nine months when Bushiroad execs started overruling Ogawa to the dismay of both himself and talent and some of the more outlandish booking decisions. Ogawa constantly being overruled on booking and business decisions by Bushiroad Fight President Katsuhiko Harada led to his decision to leave the company. Harada was later replaced by Taro Okada in that position in November. However this continued under Okada and Ogawa had already made plans to leave.

He had been under the impression that he would have autonomy on booking and business when he sold Stardom to Bushiroad in 2009. That included a five year-non compete.

It was known that the affiliation between the two sides was going to end on 2/18 as Ogawa had given notice some time back. At first, today’s show was to be his final show, but then the sides agreed to sever ties on 2/18. However, Bushiroad decided to get ahead of the story two weeks early and made the announcement publicly that he was fired after the talent was told in a meeting following today's show in Osaka.

A lot of the talent is loyal to Ogawa, who founded the company and gave most of the women their career breaks. Expect several departures from the group in March, when most of the contracts expire. The only wrestler under a longer term commitment to Stardom is IWGP Champion Mayu Iwatani, because of the movie on her life coming out.

Bushiroad had known about talent leaving and some were given legal threats in recent weeks. Those who are leaving wouldn't be doing so until their contracts expire. This is part of the story of why Giulia will not be wrestling in Chicago and had said she was taking time off in March, when her contract expires.

Ogawa is not going to WWE.

Okada and Bushiroad Fight merchandise manager Oyama will take over as the bookers for Stardom effective immediately. The two don't have any background as bookers although Okada was part of a pro wrestling club while in college that staged matches.

[Dr. Zoidberg]

[Bandit]

[Bandit]

[Dr. Zoidberg]

Dave has a nice doggie.

[Big Boss Man]

[Big Boss Man]

Rossy Ogawa has started up a new promotion called Marigold, seems a similar type of thing to what happened with All Japan & NOAH

https://www.f4wonline.com/news/japan/ro ... -promotion