Dramatic DDT

Today a joint press conference was held at CyberAgent HQ featuring members of their pro wrestling companies. It was announced that on 1st September the companies DDT Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling NOAH will merge their operations together and become a new CyberAgent prof wrestling subsidiary called CyberFight. The president and CEO of CyberFight is Sanshiro Takagi, the current president of both DDT and NOAH. Naomichi Marufuji and Akito will serve as executive vice presidents. DDT director Takahiro Yamauchi and NOAH director Arihiro Takeda will retain their roles.

Since CyberAgent’s purchase of NOAH back in January it was inevitable that the management for DDT and NOAH would be unified. Takagi says that both companies have been in good condition under CyberAgent but they were also greatly damaged by the Coronavirus. Due to the unpredictable nature of this epidemic, a decision was made to merge the managements together in order to keep pro wrestling going ahead with optimized personnel and improved cost efficiency. By uniting DDT and NOAH together, CyberFight will strengthen its ability to respond to the changing times.

Takagi, Marufuji, Yamauchi and Takeda are pretty much continuing the management roles they had before. Akito though is the new blood involved. He’s been working with KUDO for the DDT Foods family of restaurants (they are also now part of CyberFight) and earlier this year took over promoting the BOYZ brand. For now he will continue managing the DDT Foods arm of CyberFight as well as the merchandise end. But the hope is for him to become more involved with higher company management in the future.

The actual promotions of DDT and NOAH will still be separate brands with no changes to their identity and in-ring product. The online operations are planned to be improve with an expansion for WRESTLE UNIVERSE being one of the goals. On the wrestling show front, CyberFight is aiming to hold a show at the Tokyo Dome and their overall goal is to take over the No. 1 spot from New Japan Pro Wrestling!

Some of the wrestlers and staff commented on the news. Akito said that since he works with DDT’s restaurants, he often gets to communicate directly with DDT fans. Under his new role he can bring that voice of the fans and their concerns directly to management. He also hopes to serve as a bridge between the young and old generations within the company.

Marufuji never would have expected to see his company change so rapidly. But he wants to focus on the positives instead of the negatives. He would like to continue showing real pro wrestling and he believes CyberFight will raise both NOAH and DDT to the top of the pro wrestling world.

Yuka Sakazaki says this news means Tokyo Joshi Pro is going to get bigger. But Tokyo Joshi will remain as Tokyo Joshi and she will liven it up at her own pace.

Katsuhiko Nakajima from NOAH believes this change is and evolution for his company. He will dream of the day CyberFight becomes number one and will continue taking the next steps forward until then. So keep up with them!

Go Shiozaki is grateful for all that CyberAgent has done for NOAH. He made similar comments as Nakajima of making NOAH the number one wrestling promotion that pushes the industry forward.

Jun Akiyama from DDT (still feels weird typing that) promises to do his best in helping the company catch up to New Japan and then overtake it.

Tetsuya Endo from DDT describes the news as an opportunity. It is all up to the individual work of the wrestlers to make this opportunity a reality.

Chris Brookes says it is a difficult time for pro wrestling to survive while there is a pandemic going on. With NOAH and DDT together in management, WRESTLE UNIVERSE will create more opportunities for people around the world to watch Japanese pro wrestling.

Last but not least, Ken Ohka from Ganbare☆Wrestling gave a somewhat impassioned speech about his small promotion that he created by himself. It is not the size of the other brands in the deal but still Ohka will never give up. He thinks pro wrestling is more amazing than baseball and football. It can give you hope and courage for tomorrow. That is why regardless of the promotion’s size, Ganpro will continue to show their struggle and passion inside the ring. Even if the company changes and grows, what they do in the ring will not change.