Change Is Coming

[James Peterson]

変化が来ている
CHANGE IS COMING
by Takeda Hanzo

Reports are coming out of the head office this morning from Tokyo Japan that once again, change is coming to New Japan Fighting Championship. It's been a tremendous start of the year for the wrestling promotion, who have garnered much attention since it's resurrection earlier on this year with 'A New Hope from Tokyo', being the start of a new regime. And ever since then, there's been an influx of talent from around the world - interested in wrestling in the land of the rising sun. 

This influx of talent has had it's positives but also it's negatives. First and foremost, it's been a pleasure for the promotion to be a host of such amazing talent from all over the world. The negatives, is that there's been a lack of homegrown talent within the ranks. Rather than being on the main card, homegrown talent have been pushed further down the pecking order in order to favor the talent from abroad. This decision has been under a lot of scrutiny over the past couple of months, a problem that was also rising last year and the year before. 

From what we've gathered, the Global Puroresu Crown committee are going to be implementing a couple of new rules, including a limitation of gaijin talents. They want to see some more homegrown talents within the roster and by limiting the amount of gaijin talent, they hope to see a new wave of athletes rise to the occasion, perhaps creating a star in the process. A lot is to be expected from majority owner James Peterson, who once again, is under the hammer on his favoritism towards the gaijin wrestlers. From this point on, no more gaijin talent will be accepted as a regular roster member but instead, will be able to compete on a guest talent contract pending acceptance. 

Those who have already signed with the promotion on a regular basis will have a new contract drawn out for them, so that they can reconsider whether New Japan Fighting Championship is definitely the right place for them. Something they don't want a repeat of is talent running away, so securing these deals is a major component in terms of the success & future of the promotion.