Former president of All Japan Pro Wrestling Jun Akiyama is set to be a guest coach at the Performance Center in May. In an article by Tokyo Sports, it reveals that Akiyama and Triple H, WWE COO and head of the NXT brand, have been in secret talks since last summer. With this news has come speculation that AJPW could be joining the WWE umbrella as part of the formation of NXT Japan, similar to PROGRESS Wrestling and EVOLVE.
It’s no secret that WWE has been looking to make waves in Japan for some time now with rumours of NXT Japan kicking up in recent months. WWE has attempted to partner with multiple promotions in Japan already with Stardom and Pro Wrestling Noah refusing their advances. With these talks and the fact Akiyama will be at the Performance Center, it has been speculated that AJPW may be the promotion that accepts the WWE partnership.
One thing to note is that if WWE is that the current All Japan Pro Wrestling is a different company than the one from the days of Misawa and Kobashi, it just owns the trademarks that allows them to use the name and logos of AJPW. All historic footage is not owned by Akiyama’s AJPW and could not make it’s way to the WWE Network.
All of this could mean nothing as numerous stars have guest coached at the PC in the past and not joined the WWE but that hasn’t stopped rumours from spreading like wildfire that Jun Akiyama and AJPW could help WWE bring NXT Japan to life.
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