Tanahashi’s first media addresss as President and Representative Director

December 26 2023 saw Hiroshi Tanahashi greet the media for the first time as President and Representative Director of NJPW. Joining new Director Hitoshi Matsumoto, as well as owner Takaaki Kidani and outgoing President Takami Ohbari, the Ace gave his thoughts on his new assignment. A statement from Takaaki Kidani opened the press conference. 

Takaaki Kidani’s statement

Thank you for coming today. This will be Hiroshi Tanahashi’s first press conference as President. I know that expectations are high, but I feel that he will be more than able to live up to those expectations. I would like to address outgoing President Takami Ohbari first. 

Even before becoming President, Ohbari played a big role in creating guidelines for how NJPW should react to the COVID pandemic, and understanding how business plans needed to change to adapt to those situations, he was very proactive in negotiating media rights, and working with sponsors- you can see for yourself how many new sponsors have come aboard in recent months. 

One of the difficulties about running a pro-wrestling company is in international events. Even as a Japanese company, there is a global mindset at play, and Ohbari was strong in promoting overseas, as well as in working with outside companies. 

Ohbari came into the company with the idea being that he would be in the position here for five or six years and assess how things went. Speaking as someone who’s watching from the sidelines, I’ve learned just how challenging this industry is, and that if I can see that, there must be a lot more under the surface that’s even more difficult, and requires even more depth of experience, not just in Japan but globally. 

In that difficult environment and especially in COVID, (Ohbari) helped NJPW a great deal. But I feel that at this time, the biggest goal is to improve attendance even more. We’ve seen over the last two years that a lot of venues are becoming sold out already, but the goal at this time will be to surpass even that position and to sell out in even more markets to bring us to the next stage of growth. So with that in mind, and at the end of that five or six year period (for Ohbari) I spoke about earlier, the thinking was to bring about a new phase and a new structure to management. Additionally, with a change in generation and era, Mr. Nishizawa has stepped down as a Director. 

Outgoing President Takami Ohbari then addressed the media.

Takami Ohbari’s statement

Thank you for coming today. For just about five years since January of 2019 I have been working here at New Japan Pro-Wrestling. In December 2019 I became the first CEO of our first subsidiary overseas, NJPW of America, and in October 2020, I became the 10th President of the company, a position I held for three years and two months before standing down.

I became President right at the peak of the COVID pandemic. October 2020 was a time when nobody knew what would be happening. I didn’t know whether the light at the end of the tunnel was an exit or just another entrance. We were at a point where not only we had to get through things, but as the public struggled with the effects of the pandemic, we had to offer hope and not to let the flame of professional wrestling die out. We also had to work to a life after the pandemic, and to use our experiences during it to build to the future. I took that as my mission statement. 

In the three years of the pandemic, I focused on a digital and a global mindset, while strengthening partnerships with sponsors and outside companies. Together with our staff, our wrestlers and our fans, I was able to have the strength and energy to do my job to the fullest of my ability. During that time, a key figure in supporting me and helping us through those difficult times was our new President Hiroshi Tanahashi. 

I never thought of my relationship with Tanahashi as one of executive and wrestler but rather a confidant and a guiding figure. He would always talk to me about how things were running from a management perspective, and I would share that information with him, as he offered advice and consultation. I’ll never forget the work we did to bring cheering back to wrestling, and the tears we shared at making it happen. 

These last three years and two months have given us the tools and the means to bring NJPW to all new heights, and I now am proud and happy to give those tools to Tanahashi. Not being a wrestler myself, I’ve always leant on my business experience outside of the ring. But Tanahashi will have a wrestler’s mindset as well as an executive insight, giving him a full perspective in and out of the ring. 

I was a fan. Five years ago I was just a fan, and I became the President. I’ve seen this business from deep inside, and from outside as well. I’ve learned through this job that professional wrestling is tens, hundreds of times more valuable than I had ever imagined, and that its potential is greater than I’d ever thought.

As the leader of the industry, Hiroshi Tanahashi will be able to achieve that potential many times over. I hope you offer this new management structure even more support in future. I would like to stand for my closing comment.

To our fans worldwide, you have given me an experience these three years and two months that I will treasure for the rest of my life. Thank you.

New President and Representative Director Hiroshi Tanahashi, and new Director Hitoshi Matsumoto were next to the table.

Hiroshi Tanahashi’s statement 

I always carried a dream and ambition to be President as well as an active wrestler. I’m happy to be able to make that happen, and I’m grateful for all the kind words of support that I’ve gotten since my appointment. That’s also given me a lot of expectations that I have to live up to here on out. 

I have some key goals that I would like to meet in my time as the President. First of all, I want to sell out the Tokyo Dome. This has always been the goal for me. For a wrestler to walk down the ramp in front of a sold out Tokyo Dome crowd is something to be proud of forever, and something that will live with you for the rest of your career, as well as something the fans themselves will carry with them for a long time to come.

I also plan on having more title matches outside of major cities. In the 2000s when I worked with out promotion and sales staff, the goal at first was to put 500 people in the buildings, and then 1000 and then on and on. I feel that selling out the Tokyo Dome only becomes possible when the towns all around Japan are sold out as well. I want to unite all of Japan’s wrestling fans in their passion and carry that to the Tokyo Dome. 

I also want to further increase our work with sponsors. Our sponsors are the best tag partners that we have, and as an active wrestler as well as President, I’m in a completely unique position to strengthen that relationship. There is a lot that I want to do in this role, as well as a lot I know I still need to learn. I look forward to your support. 

Hitoshi Matsumoto

I’m Matsumoto from TV Asahi, and I have taken on this new position as Director. I’d like to explain first a bit about what that entails. Tanahashi will be a ‘player manager’, putting him under a big workload, so while he is busy in the ring, I hope to lend my support outside of it. At TV Asahi, I’ve worked closely not just with professional wrestling, but a wide variety other sports and genres, both back of office and directly interacting with customers. I’d like to use the benefit of that experience to support the new President to the fullest. 

I started working in the wrestling sphere with NJPW 24 years ago, not long after Tanahashi debuted. As a result I’m very familiar with how TV Asahi approaches pro-wrestling and the issues that need to be addressed. Now on the NJPW side of things I’m in a unique position of understanding how best TV Asahi can support NJPW, and to improve that co-operative relationship. I know the status of NJPW and its 50 year legacy, as well as the importance it holds in the hearts of fans, so I’d like to work as hard as I can to understand this position and do the best that I can do within it. 

Questions from the media

–Can you tell us when the decision was made for you to become the new President?

Tanahashi: This November I was invited to dinner with Mr. Kidani and he asked me about becoming President. I still haven’t won the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, and there’s a lot to be dome in that respect too, but it’s a true Ace that can perform in both positions. So I accepted and now here we are.

–Tanahashi is the first wrestler to become president in 19 and a half years, since Tatsumi Fujinami. Mr Kidani, can you explain why you selected Tanahashi?

Kidani: A big part of the decision was that he put his body on the line for NJPW in the most difficult period for the company. Another aspect was, and you see it watching him as well, but he’s like this behind the scenes too, Tanahashi is a cheerful person. In business, cheerfulness is crucial, as well as being analytical. Right now we’re at a poisiton where we want to improve attendance further and to become the number one pro-wrestling promotion in the world. From a character standpoint, right now he is the right person for the job. 

From a business person’s standpoint, yes there is the logic that someone experienced in the business facets should have the job. But to go back to being a fan for a second, I think even for a fan there is that dream of a wrestler then becoming the President. To go broader, think about baseball. A kid comes through little league, to high school to the pros, and there are always those talks of just how far someone will go. But in business it’s never a straight line, no ceilings, no floors. I think that Tanahashi is feeling very uncertain right now, because there’s an awful lot that he won’t know until he tries it. To go into the unknown like that, not with a frown but a smile is key. There’s a lot of different stresses that you’re under in the role, but I’d like to encourage him to give it his best shot, and know that we’re there to support him.

Tanahashi: I’m honored really. I want to take on this new side of the business and these new experiences while living up to the expectations on me. I’ve read that in business, successful people tend to have blood type ‘O’, and I’m ‘O’, so (laughs).

Kidani: Me too (laughs). And just to add to the answer from before, Tanahashi’s personability was important too. This was a decision made in November, but it’s something I’d given a lot of thought to beforehand. 

–You talked about improving attendance in the towns outside Tokyo. I know that you were very active in promoting in these markets around Japan years ago, but are you able to do that in your new position, do you think?

Tanahashi: Well, I plan on being on the road with NJPW, but when the company is in Tokyo then I plan on being in the office. I do want to be heading up promotion as much as I can be, but we also have a lot of wrestlers on the roster. In between tours, training and preparing for the next matches is very important, but promotion is also crucial, and I’d like our wrestlers to take up that workload, absolutely. 

–A lot of fans think that you’ve been very selfless in terms of considering company business over your own interests over the years, how do you respond to that?

Tanahashi: In my wrestling life, I’ve realised a few things, and one of them is when I get into the ring and put my energy into a match, I’m less invested in winning championships as I am in responding to the fan’s support, answering to their expectations and having them leave with a positive experience. What I want from wrestling is to give people power and strength, and I think I’ll carry that into my position as President, to give that power to the fans and our staff.

–When you debuted, Tatsumi Fujinami was president, and I think you saw from that period the challenges that come from being a full time wrestler and President. It seems like a lot to take on, to have both positions. Your thoughts?

Tanahashi: There’s a lot I won’t really grasp about it until I’m in the thick of things, but I have great support around me, and most of all, I’ve never been tired, so I think I’ll be OK.

–What are your immediate short term goals and tasks, would you say?

Tanahashi: It’s tough, but I think the key thing is to consider how the fans want to experience NJPW. I remember as a fan going to shows and having dinner or sitting with a couple of beers after just wanting to talk about the show I’d seen and how exciting things were. Those conversations are some of my favourite memories. So I think the key is how we create those memories and how we have fans leaving the buildings happy.

–How was the reception from the other wrestlers when you told them about this?

Tanahashi: I told the wrestlers on December 22 at our last Korakuen Hall event. I think everyone was probably too stunned to speak, so maybe there’ll be more concrete opinions coming out. I will say the veteran wrestlers above me were very positive and offered encouragement.

–Is there a message you would want to send to Antonio Inoki as the President?

Tanahashi: Certainly having this position one year after he passed, and as this documentary movie of his life was in cinemas has its own significance. I can only imagine what Inoki’s exact idea and understanding, his vision of professional wrestling, but I think sold out venues with excited fans is something that he will be watching from heaven with a bit of pride, hopefully.

–You’ve had the benefit of experiencing a very difficult time in NJPW history as an active wrestler. How can you bring the benefit of that experience into this new position?

Tanahashi: I think the key for me is to see achievable short and mid term goals. The thing with promotion is that you don’t see effects right away. I tend to think of it as a three year cycle. I started doing a lot of promotional work in my first reign as IWGP Champion, but I would say we didn’t feel the effects until 2009. Then from 2009, 2012. It takes time, but the key is to keep going and keeping the goals in mind. I hope the wrestlers can understand that.

–Recently there’s a lot more competition for pro-wrestling in the general entertainment space, from sports, entertainment, streaming video services and on and on. What are your thoughts about pro-wrestling in the modern media space?

Tanahashi: I think the unique factor that pro-wrestling has is the influence the fans have. As a fan the wrestler you support winning gives you a certain energy, and fans will go about their daily life inspired by their favourites. A pushed wrestler that’s getting the support of the fans, winning a title, that’s all cathartic, but that’s something other genres have. What they don’t have but we do is that that’s all in real time. Wrestlers are reacting in real time to the crowd, the support fans are showing is something that instantly influences how the wrestlers perform. That’s what makes it a powerful live experience as well as one that comes across the TV screens.

–What do you think is the unique strength of being a wrestler and president at the same time?

Tanahashi: I think that it’s a big benefit to our sales and promotion. Not to say I can’t do this after I retire per se, but being an active wrestler I’m able to leverage that into more promotion on Tv, in print, online. I can take all these interviews and work all around the country. 

–Do you think that this position will affect how you approach the in ring side of things?

Tanahashi: I’m obviously thinking about the rest of my active career. Obviously as for everyone, within that the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship is a key goal. This is probably the only business where guys can freely beat up their boss, so that might make me an even bigger target, but I hope to make all the boys angry with how hard I’m fighting (laughs).

–January 4 in 2025 will be a Saturday, opening up the weekend. As you hope to sell out the Tokyo Dome, are you thinking about a January 4 and 5 situation?

Tanahashi: The New Years Holiday always goes up to the 3rd, except for wrestling fans, because January 4 is our holiday. That’s what I’ve said over the years. Having the weekend after January 3 is a really big chance, and I would like to see everyone show up and pack out the Tokyo Dome.