WWE has been looking at Japan as a location for an NXT brand for a while, and more information has emerged about their attempts to make inroads in the country.
WWE reportedly tried to buy several previously existing Japanese promotions as a foundation for the third version of NXT. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter named Pro Wrestling NOAH as one of these, saying that NOAH didn’t end up striking a deal with the industry giant. After Stardom was purchased by Bushiroad, the game company that also owns New Japan Pro Wrestling, WON revealed that WWE had tried to buy the joshi promotion to create the backbone of NXT Japan’s women’s division, which obviously didn’t work out.
Today, WON reported that WWE also spoke with Dragon Gate about selling, but doesn’t provide other information about how those talks went. The Japanese indie’s most recent public connection with WWE was when former Dragon Gate wrestlers Akira Tozawa and Apollo Crews sent in video messages that were played during shows in wish they wished the promotion a happy twentieth anniversary. Not only WWE Superstars send those in, though, former Dragon Gate wrestler, current NJPW wrestler Shingo Takagi also sent one in.
As reports continue to emerge about WWE trying to make things happen in Japan, the most concrete NXT Japan-related news reported by WON is that Meiko Satomura has been hired as a coach and Daisuke Sekimoto is rumored to have been hired as a coach. While WWE has been able to acquire some individuals for this brand, its unknown if they’ve been able to acquire any entire companies like they’ve been attempting.
