CyberAgent Inc, the parent company of DDT Pro Wrestling, announced the purchase of Pro Wrestling NOAH. WWE had reportedly tried to buy NOAH in the past.
The move is similar to Bushiroad, the parent company of NJPW, acquiring Stardom, another Japanese wrestling promotion that WWE had tried to purchase in their efforts to make a push in the Japanese wrestling market. There will not be any major changes in the in-ring product, but there will be some changes moving forward.
Sanshiro Takagi will serve as the president of NOAH, as well as retain the same position in DDT. Naomichi Marufuji will also retain his role as Vice President of NOAH, and Akihiro Takeda will remain as NOAH's executive officer. LIDET will remain NOAH's corporate sponsor.
Takagi has said that there is no consideration of a merger between DDT and NOAH. Takagi will work on the financial side of NOAH while Marufuji and Takeda will continue to work on the in-ring product. Takagi has also said that this move is his way of repaying Mitsuharu Misawa, who had saved DDT in the past.
When asked what he will reform about NOAH's management, Takagi said, "We have a lot of things to learn from NOAH too, like social media operations. We can help enhance their media outlets; they currently rely predominantly on YouTube. We can work on corporate sponsors too."
Marfuji also said that the announcement of the move to the NOAH roaster was completely last minute. He said that the wrestlers were expecting something, but were not sure on the specifics.
DDT Universe and Abema TV will be the streaming services that will be used to broadcast NOAH shows as well as GAORA and Samurai TV, so NOAH will be broadcast to a wider audience.
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