7 Things You Need To Know About NJPW's American Expansion
6. They've Already Laid The Groundwork
While New Japan’s first set of American shows don’t take place until July, they have been laying the expansion groundwork for a while now. Recognising their brand’s growing popularity in the US, the company have been working on making their product more accessible to English-speaking fans for years - and it has kicked into overdrive in 2017.
NJPW first dabbled with English commentary at Wrestle Kingdom 9 in 2015, and after reshuffling their announcers, all of 2017’s major events will be covered by the team of Kevin Kelly and Don Callis. Fans still have to settle for Japanese commentary on the smaller shows, but this is great progress, and coupled with the NJPW on AXS TV show, it makes the promotion infinitely more appealing to those who prefer English-speaking announcers.
NJPW World (the company’s VOD streaming service) was upgraded with a slick new interface earlier this week, and while far from perfect, the built-in translation services make it easy to navigate. Furthermore, they launched an official English-language website earlier this year. NJPW1972.com has since become a valuable source of New Japan info, featuring show recaps, interviews, promo translations, and more.
The integration isn’t flawless yet, but NJPW have made a good start, and should take more steps to improve accessibility throughout the year.