NJPW star Tetsuya Naito recently spoke with Tokyo Sports for an in-depth conversation about all things pro-wrestling. During the discussion, he gave his thoughts on the presentation by Bushiroad CEO Takaaki Kidani.
Kidani expressed his opinions on the New Japan product from the viewpoint of a “fan.” Some of what is being given, in his opinion, is slow and out of date. He would prefer a change of pace since he doesn’t believe the company should be content with where they are right now. He also had issues with the Young Lion system.
Naito said, “Regardless of if what I say is good or bad, the fact that you have so many questions makes me think that you are thinking about New Japan and professional wrestling. But wasn’t [the Business Strategy Presentation] an opportunity for you [Takaaki Kidani], as a manager, to present your strategy to the audience? If you were going to criticize your own people, I would have preferred you to do it in the conference room.
You are the biggest person in this company, aren’t you? If New Japan is old, slow and hard, don’t you think you are partly responsible for that? That makes it sound like if performance improves, it’s to Bushiroad’s credit and if it deteriorates, it’s our fault.”
(H/T to POSTWrestling for the transcription)
