NEW JAPAN PRO-WRESTLING

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JUL.1.2020

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NJPW one of six promotions banding together with Sanrio!

Save Our Pro-Wrestling T-shirt brings together wrestling promotions and Sanrio characters>

As the professional wrestling world has been challenged through the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, New Japan Pro-Wrestling, together with five other promotions within Japan, and with Sanrio, are collaborating on a new T-shirt that allows all fans of pro-wrestling and cute characters to share their love and support. 

The ‘Save Our Pro-Wrestling: Link to the Future’ Tee features NJPW, STARDOM, Dramatic Dream Team, Pro-Wrestling NOAH, Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling and All Japan Pro-Wrestling logos, along with popular Sanrio characters Hello Kitty, Cinnamaroll, Batsu Maru, Keroppi, Purin and My Melody. Accommodating fans of all ages, sizes and styles, they’re available from kids to 3XL sizes, and in a range of different colours, representative of each of the promotions involved. 

In a special online press conference, wrestlers from each represented promotion gave statements about the collaboration.

Satoshi Kojima, New Japan Pro-Wrestling

‘Thank you for this really cool T-shirt design. I’ve worked with Sanrio on collaborations and other work in the past, and their designs are always cute, cool and fashionable. This is no exception and I’m proud to wear it. I hope this can become a chance to create new pro-wrestling fans or make wrestling fans fall in love with Sanrio characters. This is a great opportunity, and I’m very grateful.’

Hiroyoshi Tenzan, New Japan Pro-Wrestling 

‘This is a really big collaboration, with Sanrio and six different promotions all involved. Sanrio has a huge roster of cute characters, and they contrast with the rugged, cool factor that pro-wrestlers bring. I’m really thrilled about this collaboration, and I hope you’re all excited for what Sanrio and all these pro-wrestling companies bring to the table. OK, Come On!’

Mayu Iwatani, STARDOM

‘This new shirt is incredibly cute. My mom really loves Hello Kitty, so I grew up with that character. Ever since I was a little girl I remember tons of these stuffed toys all over the house, so to grow up and be able to collaborate on something like this is unreal. STARDOM is full of Sanrio fans as well; a lot of our wrestlers love My Melody, or have season passes to the Sanrio theme park! So we’re all incredibly happy to have this design, and it’s something I’ll show the world with pride.’

–You’re wearing the STARDOM pink version here.

‘Right! It’s a simple design, but that’s what makes it cute. I think it’ll appeal to everyone, be it kids, women or even the kind of guys that come to STARDOM events. They can wear pink, too!’

Suwama, All Japan Pro-Wrestling

‘I’m really happy to be involved in this collaboration with all these promotions, and Sanrio too. With All Japan-Pro Wrestling involved in this project, I’m wearing this bold coloured shirt, and I hope you all can represent the AJPW colours when you pick this shirt up. It’s not just us here though, but six different promotions each with their own colour schemes, so you can get them all and show your support for the entire wrestling business. Maybe my face looks a little weird above all these cute characters, but I think I can pull it off! 

The world being in this situation really makes it important for all of pro-wrestling to come together and support one another, so it’s great that we can do that with Sanrio. Me, AJPW and all of pro-wrestling, let’s tear it up! Oi!’

Tetsuya Endo, Dramatic Dream Team

‘Today we’re here to announce a collaboration between these wrestling companies and Sanrio. I got to thinking about common threads between Sanrio and the wrestling world, and I did some digging. Sanrio was established in 1960, the same year two very famous wrestling stars were born. Do you know who they were?’

–1960? So they’re 60 now?

‘No, they debuted in 1960.’

–Oh, I don’t know.

‘The answer is two men who really shaped professional wrestling, Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba. The point is that after 60 years, for the wrestling world to tie up with Sanrio like this really seems like fate. As for me personally, when I was a trainee, everybody always said I looked like Batsu Maru! I hope Batsu Maru can make his pro-wrestling debut, so I can tag with him some day!’

Yuka Sakazaki, Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling 

‘We’re collaborating with Sanrio to make this gorgeous T-shirt design available all over Japan. You can see on this shirt all these characters like Keroppi or Purin, and in Tokyo Joshi we have a lot of different characters as well. Some of those look like frogs and dogs, just like Keroppi and Purin! So it’d be great if Sanrio fans all over the country get to know our characters, too!’

Go Shiozaki, Pro-Wrestling NOAH

‘I’m really grateful for the opportunity to come here today and talk about this great collaboration with these wrestling companies and Sanrio. Sanrio has always been a wonderful supporter of pro-wrestling, and especially in times like these, the power of professional wrestling is so important. So I hope everyone will wear this shirt and really create a movement both for professional wrestling and for Sanrio.’ 

 

The Save Our Pro-Wrestling x Sanrio Characters Tee is available from Tokon Shop Japan from July 3 to July 20!

https://shop.njpw.co.jp/iwgp/default.aspx (3,500JPY per design)

 

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