As NJPW looks to expand globally, will their name hold them back?

[EvanDeadlySins]

Wade Keller tweeted this, and although it was likely just a bit of humor, it's actually worth discussing, in my opinion. (Speaking of which, I don't know if Tweet embed support is a thing on this site, but given how much information shows up on there these days, including it is something worth thinking about.)

"When BP went international, they rebranded as Beyond Petroleum instead of British Petroleum. Thus what will NJPW stand for as they expand?"

Do you believe that the name "New Japan Pro-Wrestling" could alienate people from other countries who would otherwise check out the product if it did not have a name associated with a country? One school of thought is that the type of audience that would enjoy this particular company is made up of people who don't care about something like that. The other is that the name sends a message that they are only important in one country, which is not this country, so it's not really a big deal, why should I be interested in it? After all, although the majority of WWE's efforts are focused in the United States, they were still referred to as "World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment."

What do you guys think?

[Leo C]

Well, that sounds really silly to me but if someone told me others really think like that I wouldn't be surprised. I think the lack of english commentary is something that really turns people off though.

[Koss]

I think the lack of commentary is more likely to turn people off than the fact it's Japanese. Even without the name, the whole thing is clearly Japanese! The GFW thing has done a lot for them and the AXS thing is doing well (last I heard anyway) so it seems like the English commentary is what will stop them going further...

[Rich Kraetsch]

Wade is wrong on a lot of levels with that tweet/his thoughts with that. BP didn't re-brand to Beyond Petroleum because they became a global company (they acquired majority control of Standard Oil in 1978), they've been a global competitor since the mid 60s. They re-branded to Beyond Petroleum to combat notable press about their sup-bar safety standards and to jump onto the wave of green energy.

They've since backpeddled off that and are now simply known as BP. It had nothing to do with global expansion.

With regards to NJPW? Not a big deal IMO. If anything, you can go towards a more acronym type approach (similar to what WWE does now) where it doesn't really "stand" for anything in your branding, you're just NJPW. I don't think it'll matter much though, so long as they produce wrestling people want to see, nobody will care what it's called.

[PKThree]

As they say in branding: "If your product is good enough, people will buy it no matter the name".

[Morten VH]

They could create an UK and US version of New Japan, like Dragon Gate did at first. Call it IWGP:UK and IWGP:US. Don't know if it would be worth it, from a financial standpoint. But they could create an IWGP European Championship and an IWGP American Championship, that are defended by New Japan talent in RevPro/wXw & ROH/CMLL respectively. Again that could be cool if done right, but i don't really have an idea as to how to make it work, so it doesn't end up like the Dragon Gate expansion.

[jeremysexton]

I think it could actually be helpful. I hear "New Japan Pro Wrestling" and that tells me it's probably not going to be just like WWE.

[br26]

They could drop the NJPW name and go with IWGP. But I don't think it matters that much, at least not right now.

[Goat]

Since we all speak English I am assuming this discussion is in regard to more Western parts of the world. However, I can easily see the Japanese thing being a big problem in all of the places where Japan committed atrocities during World War II which is still a lingering issue to this day.

[Koss]

I really don't think the war thing is an issue at all. The last person I heard say anything about the Japanese in that regard was my great grandad who died 10 years ago in his late eighties.

The general public are much more likely to think of Japan as strange/perverted nowadays.

[DETROIT_KEJB]

It's a non-issue. They type of people who are into Puroresu will watch no matter what. They could literally call it "WE HATE ALL AMERICANS WRESTLING" and we would still be up at 4am to watch Swagsuke.

[DanTheDazzler]

I really don't think the war thing is an issue at all. The last person I heard say anything about the Japanese in that regard was my great grandad who died 10 years ago in his late eighties.

The general public are much more likely to think of Japan as strange/perverted nowadays.

Well watching wouldn't really push them away from that thought tbf.

[Goat]

I really don't think the war thing is an issue at all. The last person I heard say anything about the Japanese in that regard was my great grandad who died 10 years ago in his late eighties.

The general public are much more likely to think of Japan as strange/perverted nowadays.

Yeah in the west. My point was Japan is still hated by China, Vietnam, Korea, etc.

[Max Traction]

They could create an UK and US version of New Japan, like Dragon Gate did at first. Call it IWGP:UK and IWGP:US. Don't know if it would be worth it, from a financial standpoint. But they could create an IWGP European Championship and an IWGP American Championship, that are defended by New Japan talent in RevPro/wXw & ROH/CMLL respectively. Again that could be cool if done right, but i don't really have an idea as to how to make it work, so it doesn't end up like the Dragon Gate expansion.

While I don't think this is going to happen for a number of reasons, it's a pretty cool fantasy to have!

At the moment, and into the forseeable future, NJPW is a Japanese wrestling promotion. I can't imagine someone being simultaneously interested in the Japanese wrestling, and intolerant of the word 'Japan' in the company's name.

[jesse]

New Japan should worry about their decline in Korakuen before they worry about changing their name to expand overseas.