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New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) officially announced the constitution of a new industry group representing professional wrestling in Japan along with All Japan Pro-Wrestling, Pro-Wrestling NOAH, DDT Pro-Wrestling, Ganbare ☆ Pro-Wrestling, Big Japan Pro-Wrestling, DRAGONGATE, STARDOM, and Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling with more interested organizations to be under consideration in the future. The industry wide group, to be known as United Japan Pro-Wrestling, aims to expand the presence of Japanese professional wrestling and its cultural merit in Japanese society at large, allow the sport to contribute further to cultural and sporting sectors, and work towards continued health and prosperity of the industry.
The unprecedented crisis brought by the global COVID-19 pandemic made it apparent that there was a lack of communication and unified approach to event guidelines and no common point of contact between the industry and national and municipal governments. There was also a desire to discuss issues surrounding wrestler health and safety regarding offline and online presence, create a pipeline to other sporting organizations and improve the image and premise of the sport through issues of corporate social responsibility. There is also a shared desire between professional wrestling promotions to continue existing competition within the marketplace while also sharing relevant information and know-how on these and other socio-economic issues. United Japan Pro-Wrestling will be the public voice of the sport in Japan that is slated to be known worldwide and provide an open space for various discussions on issues concerning the sport and new ways of maintaining its growth while adapting to the continuing changes in today's modern world.
The creation of United Japan Pro Wrestling will be marked by a joint special event to take place at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan on May 6, 2024. Its members will continue their operations under their individual business identities and competition in the Japanese professional wrestling marketplace but will be actively engaged in actions of merit. They will also exchange and share their best practices in joint events and activities to be announced in the coming months, consolidate event data for historical archive purposes, and share revenue gained from monetized use of iconography. United Japan Pro Wrestling's executive office will be situated within the headquarters of NJPW with Japanese professional wrestling legend Seiji Sakaguchi as the group's founding chairman and NJPW Chairman Naoki Sugabayashi as Executive Chairman.
