New Japan Can Never Truly Compete with WWE

We are but a frog’s hair away from New Japan Pro Wrestling’s annual January 4^th Tokyo Dome Show, the highly anticipated Wrestle Kingdom 12. What has been described as the biggest wrestling event outside of the US has a stacked card, boasting talents such as Kazuchika Okada, Tetsuya Naito, Kenny Omega, and even the legendary Chris Jericho. The wave of momentum that New Japan has gathered since Hiroshi Tanahashi dragged the company out of its dark age as their ace only seems to grow with each passing year.

Subscriptions to their streaming service are on the rise and they are leading the way in alternative wrestling content in the latter half of the 2010s. This monumental following leads to the ever-raging debate over whether true competition with the WWE is a possibility, but in all honesty, it really is a long shot. This isn’t to discredit the product that NJPW produces, as they have routinely outdone WWE at every turn in the last calendar year, it is simply trying to remain realistic.

It is impressive to see New Japan selling out large venues and bringing their hottest acts Stateside to sold out shows, and a healthy reminder that the pro wrestling business is in an exciting age. However, it takes a lot more than six-star match ratings and the undying loyalty of Internet wrestling fans for global dominance. Historically, competing with WWE since their transformation into a corporate entity has only occurred once, and that was with some serious firepower.

WCW are the only company to ever have WWE on the ropes and fighting for their lives. This was accomplished with the bankrolling of media mogul Ted Turner and his bottomless pit of funds. When combined with a roster consisting of WWE’s biggest box office attractions throughout history, there was significant mainstream appeal to exploit. We all know how the story goes, with WCW crashing and burning spectacularly through a litany of poor handling of talent, an inferior television product, and the fatal corporate merger of AOL and Time Warner.

With literally billions at their disposal and a roster consisting of a who’s who of wrestling legends, WCW still failed in providing a silver bullet for Vince McMahon and his promotion. This then begs the question, what do New Japan possess that can take the WWE on?

It is true that the matches are better, it is also true that the storytelling and overall booking is to a much more consistent standard. However, if quality and talent were the sole defining characteristic that equated to financial success, then The Fast and the Furious wouldn’t be the sixth highest-grossing film franchise of all-time. It’s not enough for NJPW to put on stellar displays of athletic prowess and hard-hitting strong style brawls, there needs to be a killer app that can tap into the Western consciousness. As simple as it sounds, that killer app is the English language.

Think to yourself how many people you’ve met who have refused to watch a foreign film because they “don’t like subtitles”, change is a scary concept for many. New Japan draw large crowds in front of a domestic audience, but can you seriously see them packing an 80,000-seat arena in the US? Because that is what it would take to go head-to-head with Vince McMahon. The concept of WWE vs. NJPW is a version of David and Goliath where Goliath wins. This is a publicly traded company with assets valued in the hundreds of millions taking on a well-liked but ultimately niche competitor on home soil, it’s about as one-sided as you can get.

When one looks at WWE’s place in popular culture, it’s a position that has been held since the 1980s. WWE is Americana, it’s a comic book, a cartoon. The identity of Western wrestling is one that is defined by a hyperbolic and self-aware representation of the American way of life. Hulk Hogan was popular for the same reason Superman was: he was an all-American physical specimen who was able to routinely overcome the menacing presence of evil. Through this simple communication of established character tropes, wrestling became associated with American life, rather than simply being a product which one can consume.

If you stop a random person in the street and ask them what they think of when you say “professional wrestling”, then the initials “WWE” or even “WWF” will most likely form the basis of their answer. For over thirty years, “wrestling” and “WWE” have been interchangeable terms. The identity of wrestling is not that of a collection of promotions, but rather one corporate figurehead that rules the roost. In this context, how could a promotion from the other side of the world and is mainly communicated in a foreign language possibly compete with the only game in town?

It’s the same reason why foreign cinema can never take on Hollywood in a serious nature. Your Name is the highest-grossing Japanese film in the world, but its $354 million worldwide box office take is paltry compared to Avatar and its $2.7 billion. People are comfortable with the familiar, and only the true enthusiasts will actively seek out alternative content. Hardcore wrestling fans are a vocal minority, WWE are thinking big picture.

If a wrestler does start to gather a large following in New Japan, then WWE can just coax them over with more money. AJ Styles caught traction overseas and WWE snapped him up, they did the same with Shinsuke Nakamura. Hell, WWE brought in Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson because they could and didn’t even utilise them effectively. Did that lead to the company losing millions? No, it just forced New Japan to hastily replace their lost stars.

Ultimately, WWE has the lion’s share of the market and have done for generations. New Japan most definitely aren’t going anywhere, and their fantastic output will be around for all to enjoy for years to come. Wrestle Kingdom 12 will no doubt be among the best wrestling offerings of 2018 and will bring more eyes to the product from America. But to be a threat to WWE, New Japan Pro Wrestling cannot simply move the needle, they must alter the entire public perception of what professional wrestling is, which sadly won’t happen.