Report: NJPW in talks with WWE for being their exclusive American partner

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Aniket Rai

WWE and NJPW are in talks over a potential partnership deal

WWE has had a ton of stars come to their roster from New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), and vice versa.

Some of the names on this illustrious list of pro wrestlers having fought in both the promotions include Brock Lesnar, Kurt Angle, Shinsuke Nakamura, Finn Balor, etc.

And it seems that WWE and NJPW wants to bridge a direct, professional relationship in the future. That is according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar have both fought in WWE and NJPW.
Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar have both fought in WWE and NJPW. (imago Images)

He mentions that both promotions have been in talks to formulate a partnership since March and April this year. However, there is no update on where the talks lie currently.

NJPW have longed worked with Ring of Honor as their official American partner. However, they extended a working relationship with AEW and Impact during the pandemic.

WWE wants exclusive deal with NJPW over ROH and AEW

If the deal goes through, then WWE will be NJPW’s exclusive American partners. This would effectively kick ROH, AEW, and Impact out of the picture.

NJPW and WWE are reportedly in talks with each other over new partnership.
NJPW and WWE are reportedly in talks with each other over new partnership.

A partnership between the two would include the two promotions sending stars to work on each other’s shows. It is still uncertain when this deal will be confirmed, or if it will be agreed to at all.

Meltzer wrote in the Newsletter:

In what could end up being among the biggest wrestling stories of the year, or a non-story, depending on the end result, Nick Khan has been in talks with New Japan Pro Wrestling about WWE being the exclusive American partner with the promotion. Right now New Japan has been working with AEW (KENTA, Yuji Nagata, Rocky Romero and Ren Narita plus Jon Moxley working New Japan Strong) and Impact (Juice Robinson, David Finlay, El Phantasmo and Satoshi Kojima) and has had a relationship with CMLL and ROH, but things have slowed down with those companies since COVID.

Ring of Honor are NJPW's official American partners with AEW and Impact also involved in the picture.
Ring of Honor are NJPW’s official American partners with AEW and Impact also involved in the picture.

NJPW were the third-strongest company pre-Covid-19 and this relationship would undoubtedly be beneficial for both, especially for the Japanese counterparts of WWE.

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