After the announcement of Jushin “Thunder” Liger coming to NXT (here), many speculated that this would be the first step into New Japan Pro Wrestling linking up with WWE’s development/third brand, NXT. While those rumours are somewhat correct, New Japan announced this morning at the G1 Climax Press Conference that they would indeed be linking up with many other American & European companies. They are calling this “IWGP Conception”
In what has been called its “biggest expansion in years”, New Japan Pro Wrestling now has links with the following promotions:
National Wrestling Alliance (NWA)
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL)
Global Force Wrestling (GFW)
Ring Of Honor (ROH)
Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro)
Westside Xtreme Wrestling (WXW)
While the ROH inclusion was expected and a RevPro/NJPW show is coming up, the idea is to have a talent exchange while being able to send NJPW stars to these companies. Getting more exposure in the West in the process. Essentially, NJPW being the parent company and the others being the feeder companies. NJPW will also start touring Thailand, Singapore, and Taiwan as countries they run in their home Continent. New Japan is also starting to trade publicly, and have put their stocks on the Stock Market.