By Mike Johnson on 2011-05-19 15:33:14
Merchandise from the New Japan Pro Wrestling tour is now available at JAPW.net.
MVP will make the first defense of his IWGP Intercontinental championship on 6/18 in Osaka, facing Toru Yano.
Lance Hoyt hitting the ring in Philadelphia was a New Japan angle as he’ll be debuting this June for the company.
For those who are wondering, the official attendances for the tour last weekend were 587 paid in Rahway, NJ (640 in the building), 1143 paid in New York City (1,250 in the venue) and 600 paid in Philadelphia (not sure on total in venue).
JAPW was very happy with the tour as it was one of the most profitable weekends in company history. While there were a lot of expenses due to visas and travel costs, the decision to go the “TNA route” by selling autographs of the top stars on the tour (while others signed for free), merchandise deals and “Backstage passes” allowing for additional autograph sessions turned out to be a real boon to the bottom line.
New Japan was also very happy with the tour. After the fans left the building in Philadelphia, the entire NJPW roster and staff gathered in the ring to take group photos for themselves and the media. The day after the tour, there was a big farewell party where NJPW presented gifts to many of the Americans who had worked with them on the tour.
The hope is to do another tour within a year, if not sooner as well as bring some of the NJPW talents in when it makes sense. There is already talk of some of the JAPW regulars touring New Japan later this year. I would personally be shocked if Dan Maff didn’t earn himself a position as it was one of the best weekends he’s ever had as a wrestler.
The one downside to the entire tour was the NYC venue, Basketball City. JAPW had booked the venue based on its website and how it looked on a promotional video filmed at the new site during an event with LeBron James. Upon its arrival at the facility, they learned that the venue was only partially finished with its construction. JAPW had to rent portable johns for fans to use since there were no working restrooms and also were forced to refund money to several fans who had issues breathing due to dust from the construction in the room hanging in the air. I can only speak for myself but after being in the place for an hour, I could taste a chalky taste in my mouth from the dust and I was coughing the entire next day. I have no idea how the wrestlers were able to work at the pace that they did. JAPW had to field lots of questions from the local police and fire marshall about the venue as the show was ongoing as well, so in a lot of ways, they were lucky the show wasn’t shut down by the authorities. To say it was among the worst, if not the worst, environment for a wrestling venue I’ve ever been to, is an understatement. JAPW wanted to book the Manhattan Center for the date but it was unavailable, as were several other options.
