Bushiroad Co LTD, the parent company of New Japan Pro-Wrestling, have announced that they will acquire the female pro-wrestling organization “Stardom”, in a deal brokered between Takaaki Kidani – Bushiroad director – and Rossy Ogawa, the owner of Stardom.
This is exciting news from Japan as the “Joshi” style of wrestling that Stardom espouses is arguably one of the most innovative styles and is the reason why Asuka, Meiko Satomura and the Jumping Bomb Angels are all notable names within the wrestling world.
This is also welcome news to BritWres fans as several regulars of the British scene are booked in Stardom, such as: ‘Top Gaijin’ Bea Priestley, Session Moth Martina and Tokyo Cyber Squad’s Bobbi Tyler and Zoe Lucas. This news could signal that you will be able to watch all of the above and their matches from Stardom on NJPW World.
It also further fuels speculation that NJPW may incorporate Stardom as their own women’s division, and potentially we could see women on the card of Wrestle Kingdom, or co-promoted shows one day.
As with this news, all Stardom talent will receive New Japan Pro Wrestling contracts.
New Japan cannot stream Stardom cards or shows at this time due to television rights contracts that each company individually have. New Japan is partially owned by TV-Asahi and Stardoms contract is with TV rival NTV (Imagine SkySports and BT Sports)
The purchase will be made official on December 1st. The company name will be changed from Kix Road Co., Ltd. to Bushiroad Fight Co., Ltd. Rossy Ogawa (Hiroshi Ogawa) will remain the Chief Executive Officer of Stardom. The name of the wrestling promotion remains Stardom, thus you won’t see NJPW Stardom or New Japan Pro Wrestling completely removing the company and absorbing Stardom into their own branding and rosters.
This will make any partnership or cross-over with NJPW and Stardom more possible in the future depending on other factors (Such as TV Deals as mentioned previously).