Josh Barnett Comments on the End of New Japan Pro-Wrestling of America, Reveals He Offered to Take Over NJPW Academy

By: Ian McCord 

On November 6th, New Japan Pro-Wrestling announced that its subsidiary, New Japan Pro-Wrestling of America, will be halting operations and bringing an end to the company that was established in 2019.

NJPW shared that going forward all events in North America will be orchestrated by TV Asahi.

The end of New Japan of America brings the end of the LA Dojo / NJPW Academy. From 2018 to 2023 Katsuyori Shibata was the head trainer of the Dojo, passing down his knowledge to the likes of Yuya Uemura, Gabe Kidd, Ren Narita, Kevin Knight, Clark Connors and others. In 2023 the LA Dojo was renamed NJPW Academy, with Fred Rosser, KUSHIDA, The DKC, and Rocky Romero serving as coaches.

Image Credit: New Japan Pro-Wrestling

After the news broke, someone whose ties to New Japan Pro-Wrestling dates back to the early 2000’s, Josh Barnett, shared some insight on what could have been with the NJPW Academy.

The Warmaster took to X to reveal that he offered to take over the program in the United States, noting that with the right direction the academy could be a real asset for NJPW.

From Josh Barnett via X:

Since this is going down today here’s a little info:

 

I had offered to take over the whole program in the US – Training, classes, running local shows, and more. I could tell that there was a very expensive asset here that wasn’t being fully used, but knew with the right direction, it could be a crown jewel for them.

 

Unfortunately, the cost versus debt was so bad it would seem, that closing it was the best move in their eyes.

 

What could have been…

 

Onward though, as always.