, also stylised as United Japan Pro-Wrestling, is an association of several

professional wrestling promotion A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling that has little relationship to the rules of the amateur olympic form. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails man ...

s in Japan, acting as an industry group in order to facilitate the sharing of resources and practices as well as strengthen connections to other sectors.

History

Background

On April 15, 2020, due to the self-imposed restrictions of events in response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Takaaki Kidani (owner of

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority shares ...

(NJPW) and

Stardom ''Stardom'' is a 2000 Canadian comedy-drama film directed by Denys Arcand and written by J.Jacob Potashnik and Arcand. It stars Jessica Paré and Dan Aykroyd. It tells the story of a young girl who tries to cope with her rise to stardom after bei ...

through his company

Bushiroad is a Japanese entertainment company, producer of collectible card games and trading cards, publisher of mobile apps and games, promotional items and many other venues, which was founded in 2007 by Takaaki Kidani and is headquartered in Tokyo. ...

) led a delegation of representatives from seven promotions to send a formal request for compensation for business suspension to then House of Representatives member

Hiroshi Hase is a Japanese politician who is currently the governor of Ishikawa Prefecture. He served as the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology under Prime Minister Shinzō Abe. Prior to his appointment in the Cabinet, he also se ...

(an NJPW alumnus himself), the

Japan Sports Agency Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, and the

Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry The or METI, is a ministry of the Government of Japan. It was created by the 2001 Central Government Reform when the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) merged with agencies from other ministries related to economic activities, ...

. This led to the formation of the in the House of Representatives on November 19.

Founding

Prompted by Hase's call to establish a unified commission of wrestling promotions and recognizing the necessity for collaboration between the government, local authorities, and the wrestling industry, an organization was formed by nine promotions owned by six companies. The United Japan Pro-Wrestling (UJPW) group was announced to be established on December 15, 2023. On May 6, 2024, a launching event is scheduled to be held at the

Nippon Budokan The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally built for the inaugural Olympic judo competition in the 1964 Summer Olympics. While its primary purpose is to host martial arts con ...

. The inaugural chairman is Seiji Sakaguchi, a former wrestler, president and current advisor of NJPW, and the secretary-general is Naoki Sugabayashi, the current chairman of NJPW. While maintaining healthy competition among the industry, the organization aims to provide a space for exchanging opinions and information regarding common issues within the professional wrestling industry. By doing so, it intends to ensure the industry's image enhancement, foster sustainable development, and address shared challenges. UJPW also plans to welcome additional member promotions in the future. The inaugural UJPW event, the 2024 All Together, was held on May 6, 2024. On July 17, 2024, UJPW held a general meeting in Tokyo, where

World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

and Kyushu Pro-Wrestling were admitted into the association. Also at the meeting, Sanshiro Takagi was declared the UJPW spokesman and Ryota Chikuzen,

Ryo Saito (born August 15, 1979) is a Japanese professional wrestler, who currently works for Dragon Gate. He is a former member of the Jimmyz stable, where he was known by the ring name Ryo "Jimmy" Saito. His name is sometimes abbreviated as SaiRyo, so ...

, and Naoki Sugabayashi were declared the association's trustees.

Members

Notes

References