NJPW President Takami Ohbari Comments On His Relationship with Tony Khan, Also Talks NJPW Expansion In USA

By Lewis Carlan Last updated Aug 25, 2023

Back on June 25th of this year, All Elite Wrestling and New Japan Pro-Wrestling held its 2nd Forbidden Door event that saw the stars of AEW and NJPW come together for one night of inter-promotional matchups between the two promotions.

The main event of Forbidden Door 2 saw Bryan Danielson defeat Kazuchika Okada in a true dream match.

In a recent interview conducted by Monthly Puroresu, NJPW President Takami Ohbari was asked about the status of his relationship with Tony Khan:

We certainly keep in touch personally and professionally, and we’ve exchanged gifts. Friendship between us is vital to make dream matches like at Forbidden Door happen, and it can only be beneficial for both companies to expand the professional wrestling market in both Japan and the US.

Takami Ohbari was also asked how he felt the effort to expand NJPW in the US market is progressing:

Our goal is to create a synergy between Japan and the US. We used to hold occasional shows in the States, sending a lot of talent and staff to handle it, meaning we couldn’t run in Japan and the US at the same time. So that’s a big cost in flights accommodation, and we miss the opportunity for Japanese market. Now, we’re close to an ideal. NJPW in the US is more of an established brand now. We still send some of our talent, but not all, to the US. So we can run Japan and the US concurrently. LA Dojo and NJPW Academy is also paving the future for NJPW in the US. In the previous financial year, which ended in June, NJPW of America was profitable for the first time, and they helped NJPW as a whole reach its second highest revenues in company history, which is a really impressive feat.

Fans can read about Takami Ohbari’s comments on the growing women’s division in NJPW by clicking here.

You can follow Lewis Carlan on Twitter @ShootingUpNorth

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