10 Times WWE Tried To Kill Wrestling
1. The Next Phase
WWE has not announced NXT Japan, but plans are in place for this next phase of global domination.
WWE has secured, per the rumour and innuendo, Meiko Satomura and Daisuke Sekimoto in coaching capacities. Dave Meltzer has revealed in editions of the Wrestling Observer that WWE has reached out - with little success - to Dragon Gate and Pro Wrestling NOAH. The nature of the discussions was not disclosed, just that they took place, but the in-the-know are keeping tabs on Big Japan Pro Wrestling, of all promotions, as a potential feeder. WWE wants to do something with somebody in Japan, and that "something" isn't "working in harmony to establish their own presence in the country".
That isn't latent cynicism. The precedent of literally every entry on this list confirms otherwise.
Such an onslaught will prove exponentially trickier on Japanese soil. ICW and PROGRESS weren't established powerhouses with secure long-term futures. Mark Dallas and Jim Smallman fell in line, perhaps understandably, because they were the only promoters to earn money of any significance on British soil in decades. They knew what the alternative held.
The British and US scenes differ in style but are comparable in mentality and audience. What Japanese fans want differs wildly from what WWE offers. There is no talent pool dominated by freelancers to drain. The almost complete absence of big-time opportunity drew those British talents to WWE; over in Japan, there is more money to be made, and there is also a far stricter, traditional code of loyalty.
WWE will likely fail to replicate the success - if losing money can be considered a success - of NXT UK in Japan. But they will try.
They've been trying since 1982.
Then.
Now.
Forever.