Photo Credit: KENOH
By: Lewis Carlan
On May 27th, it was announced that Bushiroad sold all of its shares of New Japan Pro-Wrestling to CyberAgent and TV Asahi for 3.8 billion yen. With the sale, NJPW joined Pro Wrestling NOAH, DDT Pro-Wrestling and Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling under the CyberAgent umbrella.
Long time Pro Wrestling NOAH superstar KENOH discussed the sale of NJPW during the latest podcast on his official YouTube channel.
KENOH had a little fun with the acquisition by saying that NJPW is now NOAH’s little brother and all NJPW wrestlers should refer to him as “big brother”.
From KENOH:
“Since NOAH is also owned by CyberAgent, this means we’ll be like sister companies with New Japan, right? New Japan Pro-Wrestling is NOAH’s little brother. All New Japan Pro-Wrestling wrestlers, call me ‘big brother.’”
During the podcast, KENOH offered praise to Bushiroad.
From KENOH:
“They’ve promoted pro-wrestling as something part of everyday life. In the past, only hardcore fans watched it, but they were instrumental in attracting casual fans.”
KENOH also wondered what would become of the IWGP Women’s Championship which is currently held by Syuri and considered a STARDOM title. STARDOM was not part of the sale and remained under the ownership of Bushiroad.
From KENOH:
“I’m seriously wondering what they’re going to do with the IWGP Women’s Championship. It has ‘IWGP’ in the name, so it feels like New Japan is in charge of it.”
KENOH ended his discussion on the acquisition by saying thank you to Bushiroad for revitalizing the pro-wrestling world when it was in a decline.
From KENOH:
“When the pro-wrestling world was in a slump, thanks to Bushiroad, both New Japan and other pro-wrestling organizations were revitalized. There was a synergy effect. I want to say ‘thank you’ to Bushiroad. It’s a bit of a shame—or rather, I feel a bit sad—that things have taken such a sudden turn.”
(Source: Tokyo Sports, English Translation via Deepl.com.)
Date:
May 28, 2026
Category:
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