In recent years, WWE has started to establish its own regional subsidiaries across the world as part of its “global localisation” strategy. NXT UK was established in July 2018, and the company opened up a new Performance Center in London, England earlier this year to train the next generation of European Superstars.
WWE has also been trying to expand into Japan for some time but has faced major backlash from both Japanese promotions and wrestling fans. They tried to purchase Pro Wrestling NOAH and Dragon Gate back in October and use them as a launchpad into the region, but both promotions rejected their advances.
The company is seemingly happy to push on without them, however, as Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE is set to open a Performance Center in Japan “in the next few months.” They have already reached out to Hiroshi Hase and Antonio Inoki to ask about the political situation, which has only encouraged the company to continue with their plans.
For the avoidance of doubt, Meltzer wrote: “Expect the announcement of a Japan performance center in the next few months, maybe around summer time if everything goes as expected. They already reached out to Sen. Hiroshi Hase and Antonio Inoki about the political situation. The original thought was working with Pro Wrestling NOAH, but NOAH was sold to Cyberagent.”
