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Pro Wrestling NOAH just announced that General Manager Ryu Nakata and Counselor Haruka Eigen had ties to the Yakuza from 2003 to 2010, working with them to sell tickets to the company's live events.
All of the major Japanese media covered the story, which will give the promotion a bad public image. Virtually every promotion in sports and entertainment in Japan has Yakuza tie-ins, but it's probably best analogized like the steroid issue in sports in the U.S. It's commonplace in every major sport, deep down everyone knows it, but if it comes out that somebody used it publicly, it's a black mark against them. Pride went down largely because of these revelations.
Exactly how this will fall out is unknown, but expect fall out very quickly.
NOAH was, at least among Japanese sports fans, the most popular promotion in the country for much of the last decade, but fell on hard times in recent years once losing its network television outlet. A financially-strapped NTV, due to the recession, canceled pro wrestling, one of the longest lasting shows in the history of television in any country, dating back more than 50 years. The death of president Mitsuharu Misawa was another gigantic blow. Without strong television, the company was unable to create new stars who could sell tickets like Misawa and the frequently injured and physically destroyed Kenta Kobashi.
All of the major Japanese media covered the story, which will give the promotion a bad public image. Virtually every promotion in sports and entertainment in Japan has Yakuza tie-ins, but it's probably best analogized like the steroid issue in sports in the U.S. It's commonplace in every major sport, deep down everyone knows it, but if it comes out that somebody used it publicly, it's a black mark against them. Pride went down largely because of these revelations.
Exactly how this will fall out is unknown, but expect fall out very quickly.
NOAH was, at least among Japanese sports fans, the most popular promotion in the country for much of the last decade, but fell on hard times in recent years once losing its network television outlet. A financially-strapped NTV, due to the recession, canceled pro wrestling, one of the longest lasting shows in the history of television in any country, dating back more than 50 years. The death of president Mitsuharu Misawa was another gigantic blow. Without strong television, the company was unable to create new stars who could sell tickets like Misawa and the frequently injured and physically destroyed Kenta Kobashi.
However, the good news for NOAH, is that being so low profile these days may work in their favor here, if the public decides to shoulder shrug this and not give a fuck.
Lots of speculation that if NOAH throws in the towel, a lot of the talent will just migrate to Kensuke's Diamond Ring promotion, which will then go from part time to full time. So basically, just a massive exodus and the same crew working under a new banner (if that sounds familiar, it's because that's exactly how NOAH formed to begin with when Misawa led the mass exodus out of All Japan).
NOAH, truly, can just not catch a fucking break. First they lose TV, then Saito literally kills Misawa with a backdrop, then Marufuji & KENTA take turns being out for 6 months at a time, then the fucking Bravado's come over, now this.
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