NJPW Parent Company Buys Stardom
Bushiroad acquires premier women's promotion.
Bushiroad, the multimedia conglomerate which owns New Japan Pro Wrestling, have confirmed their purchase of premier Japanese women's promotion Stardom.
The company's president Takaaki Kidani met with Stardom counterpart Rossy Ogawa over a potential takeover this past April. It's understood the deal was confirmed in August.
Stardom shared the news via their official Twitter account, announcing a press conference for later in the day:
Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer clarified some of the details. The deal categorically does not mean that NJPW and Stardom are merging, nor that the former will begin promoting talent from the latter. Stardom will come under the purview of Kix Road, the parent company of Bushiroad's Knock Out kickboxing group, though it's understood the two companies will remain separate.
New Japan World will not be streaming Stardom events either, which will stay exclusive to their proprietary service Stardom Road.
Stardom, or 'World Wonder Ring STARD✪M' to give it it's full name, was founded in 2010 by Ogawa, a former promoter of the wonderfully named Hyper Visual Fighting Arsion. The company has been the breeding ground for many of women's wrestling's finest since its foundation, including future WWE stars Io Shirai and Kairi Sane. Current AEW Women's Champion Riho is also an active member of Stardom's current roster.