NJPW President Hiroshi Tanahashi recently spoke with Inside The Ropes on a number of topics including how his role as president has been a real learning process.
Tanahashi said, “It’s been a real learning process. On top of taking the new role, there’s been a lot going on in the last month with Kazuchika Okada deciding to leave as well. But I’ve been throwing myself into it every day, picking up a lot of knowledge, and giving the fans a little stability and reassurance as well. I think what this new role can mean is something that we’re all finding out as we go, and we’ll continue to be on that journey together.”
The goals he has for the company this year:
“The scale and scope of our events in the US lately is something we’re really happy with and we want to maintain that, but from this year, New Japan is going to put a lot of effort into our expansion in Asia and you’ll see that become an area of major growth for us in my opinion.”
How making new stars in the company will be a main focus of his as president:
“This is a star driven business, and we need to make new stars. That goes beyond success in the ring as well- mainstream awareness and name value is the key to success. I want more of our wrestlers becoming household names.”
