NJPW President Hiroshi Tanahashi addressed the media on June 4, 2024 with his ten-point plan for the future of NJPW and his assessment of being President for the past six months.
Here are the notes on Tanahashi’s statements:
Talent discovery and development
Young talent should wrestle more in high level spots
G1 spots are still earned; all wrestlers need to try their best to impress
NJPW wants the best wrestlers in their early 20s (I talk about this further.)
Elevating the value of championships
Roles of the championships will now be more defined
STONG championships will be American exclusive (I talk about this further)
Thriteen championships are difficult to follow even for the hardcore NJPW fan (like me - plus I was talk about this in the NJPW Unpacked epsiode)
Reducing/eliminating outside interference
Interference will be limited
House of Torture - listen to my defense for House of Torture again in this episode
This section to me is all in kayfabe
Increasing the prominence and status of Hontai
Hontai to be a desired unit for young wrestlers or wrestlers returning from excursion. (I talk about this.)
Strengthening ties with STARDOM
Stardom will be owned by NJPW (becomes a subsdary) in July
Another crossover PPV is being talk about for later this year
Strengthening ties with AEW
Super delusional section of the press conference and on the podcast. I give a lot of examples and perspectives
Improving the live fan experience
Different prices, picking seats, female only section, special food menus, and more
Improving NJPW World
Apologies for having clunky transition from old website to new website
Improved treatment of personal information
Plans to keep personal data safe going forward by training employees
NJPW Sponsors
Thanking sponsors. A famous sponsor of theirs is no longer sponsoring them
Extra reading/listening
NJPW's Bold Future: Tanahashi's 10 Step Plan & the AEW Fantasy - A Deep Dive