New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), or simply New Japan, is a Japanese professional-wrestling promotion founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, and based in Nakano, Tokyo. Owing to its TV program aired on TV Asahi, NJPW is the largest and longest-running professional wrestling promotion in Japan. NJPW's dojo system is renowned for its rigorous training and unique approach to developing professional wrestlers.
The dojo system in Japanese wrestling borrows heavily from old sumo traditions, even down to senpai - kouhai social hierarchy. Rookies must follow a strict protocol as they are taught humility and respect for their senior wrestlers and what they do. For New Japan’s young lions, that includes shaving their head when they first move into the dojo.
The Path of the Young Lion
Rookie wrestlers of the New Japan Pro Wrestling promotion are referred to as Young Lions. Young Lions live in dormitories adjacent to their dojo and are expected to perform household duties such as cleaning, laundry, and cooking. On top of their training, rookie wrestlers are responsible for maintaining the dojo from cleaning and laundry to meal prep. They will often work in rotation. In the NJPW dojo, that rotation is known as ‘chankoban’.
Before wrestling shows a Young Lion is also expected to carry the baggage of their seniors, assemble the ring, and arrange guest seating. They are also responsible for the security of the audience, shielding them from brawls which may spill outside the ring.
Young Lion matches mainly consist of basic moves such as entrance with full power running, elbows, body slams, and dropkicks. Young Lions typically wear black fitted shorts and ring shoes. This uniform is commonly seen as a symbol of strong style. Even a seemingly benign addition to their attire like a knee pad can leave an impression; implying that the rookie is well on his way to success.
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In the past, the Young Lions had their own tournament dubbed the Young Lion Cup - a successor to the Karl Gotch Cup promoted by the NJPW in the 1970s. The Young Lion Cup was held to determine the top Young Lion of the promotion. For some wrestlers like Masahiro Chono, Manabu Nakanishi, Satoshi Kojima and Hiroshi Tanahashi it was their first taste of success.
The Young Lion Cup went on hiatus in 2005 with no word on its return until 2017 when Yuji Nagata proposed a revival of the tournament. The Young Lions in Japan have their own show called the Lions Gate Project where they face off against veteran wrestlers and rookies from other promotions in Japan.
Typically three years after their Young Lion debut, students are sent abroad to continue their training. This is often referred to as a "Learning Excursion". After this special training is complete and a Young Lion returns home to the NJPW in Japan they graduate and are no longer considered a Young Lion.
Lion's Roar: A Glimpse into the Dojo
Over the decades, many wrestling fans have asked themselves, “How can I become a pro wrestler?” That question is answered through one of New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s newest series, Lion’s Roar. Available exclusively on NJPW’s streaming service New Japan World, Lion’s Roar offers an interesting glimpse into the lives of wrestling hopefuls.
The show is hosted by Toks/Bad Luck Fale (Simi Taitoko Fale, 40), who is introduced as the first foreigner to complete New Japan’s dojo training system. He went through the exact same rigorous training program as the native Japanese talent. And by completing the training (or, in Fale’s own words “surviving”) he earned enough respect to open his own satellite training facility in New Zealand.
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Inspired directly by Fale’s own training in the company’s main dojo in Japan, Fale believes that the key to creating solid pro wrestlers is a combination of discipline, repetition, conditioning, and teamwork. The trainees must take care of themselves and each other outside the ring as much as they do between the ropes. Fale’s philosophy brings the classic trope of ‘Japanese discipline’ to life: the trainees are taught how to greet and address each other in Japanese, they are told to keep the house and the dojo perfectly clean, and their lives are regimented strictly. At the same time, the trainees are taught a sense of community, family, and collective responsibility.
The notion of New Japan’s strong style being ‘legitimate’ and ‘a fight’ is drilled into the trainees’ heads from day one. They do plenty of amateur grappling and basic drills that could break anyone just as easily as the core endurance training. By Episode 9, around half of the trainees have suffered one injury or another.
The one thing Fale looks for out of these trainees is heart, and the best way to show that is to persevere and keep going despite whatever setbacks one might suffer.
Lion’s Roar isn’t meant to be a cheesy TV drama or some kind of shock TV about the brutality of the sport of professional wrestling. Instead, it comes across as a mix between a documentary and a story of inspiration. At its core, Lion’s Roar highlights just how intense the training is to become a professional wrestler.
The New Zealand Dojo Young Lions of NJPW TAMASHII!
New Japan Pro-Wrestling of America (NJoA)
On October 21, 2019, NJPW announced the formation of a new American subsidiary of the company, named New Japan Pro-Wrestling of America (NJoA). In 2019, they had run a record 13 shows in the United States, with plans to run double that in 2020.
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Hall of Fame
The Greatest Wrestlers is New Japan's hall of fame, established in 2007 to honor wrestlers who have wrestled for the promotion.
The Greatest 18 Club
The Greatest 18 Club was New Japan's first hall of fame, being established in September 30 during Antonio Inoki's career 30th anniversary in 1990.
The event is considered their biggest event of the year and comparable to WWE's WrestleMania event. In April 1995, NJPW and WCW held the two-day Collision in Korea event at the Rungrado 1st of May Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea.
In the early 2000s, the burgeoning popularity of mixed martial arts (MMA) in Japan was noticed by Inoki, who wanted to integrate elements of shoot wrestling to make the company appear more realistic. The company would partner with martial arts organization K-1 and begin to insert wrestlers into MMA fights, with the goal of pushing NJPW in a more realistic direction and to make it appear as an actual sport.
The company's new management was criticized by critics and fans. Inoki later departed NJPW in 2005 after selling his share of the company to Yuke's, and began his own promotion, the Inoki Genome Federation (IGF), in 2007.
The promotion debuted a new series called NEVER in August 2010, designed to be a series of events spotlighting younger up-and-coming New Japan talent and feature more outsider participation in the promotion. On January 4, 2011, New Japan officially announced the NJPW Invasion Tour 2011: Attack on East Coast, the promotion's first tour of the United States to be held in May 2011.
The tour featured shows in Rahway, New Jersey on May 13, New York City on May 14 and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on May 15, as well as cross-promotion with American independent group Jersey All Pro Wrestling (JAPW). New Japan aired its first internet pay-per-view, the fourth day of the 2012 G1 Climax, on August 5, 2012.
The October 8, 2012, King of Pro-Wrestling pay-per-view marked the first time viewers outside Japan were able to order a pay-per-view by the promotion through Ustream. On October 5, 2012, New Japan announced the creation of the NEVER Openweight Championship, which would be contested for on the NEVER series.
In June 2014, New Japan announced a partnership with the new American Global Force Wrestling (GFW) organization helmed by Jeff Jarrett. In November 2014, GFW announced that it would be broadcasting NJPW's Wrestle Kingdom 9 in Tokyo Dome on pay-per-view in the United States as a four-hour event.