Just days after co-owner The Great Kojika made comments to Tokyo Sports about the real possibility of many Japanese promotions shutting down due to financial collapsing from the COVID-19 outbreak, Big Japan Wrestling (BJW) posted a plea to fans on Friday morning to help crowdfund for assistance in keeping the company afloat to survive the shutdown. “Big Japan Pro Wrestling has decided to postpone or cancel the tournaments during May,” the Tweet read. “While shows cannot be held, we will carry out crowdfunding for the survival of Big Japan Pro Wrestling. Even if everyone is in a difficult situation, we would be grateful if you could just visit the site.”
大日本プロレスでは5月中の大会延期・中止を決定いたしました。
興行が出来ない中、大日本プロレス存続のため近くクラウドファンディングを実施いたします。
全ての方が大変な状況の中、公開されましたらサイトを見ていただけるだけでも幸いです。
よろしくお願いします。#bjw #大日本プロレス pic.twitter.com/AY8eMmwaS5— 大日本プロレス BJW Official (@BJWOfficial) May 1, 2020
Big Japan Wrestling was founded in 1995 by former All Japan stars Shinya “The Great” Kojika and Kendo Nagasaki and Eiji Tosaka, during a time when the hard-hitting Japanese hardcore style, including deathmatches, was at its peak. BJW joined a scene that still featured Frontier Martial-arts Wrestling (FMW) and International Wrestling Association of Japan (IWA Japan). It opened one year after the closure of another hardcore promotion, Wrestling International New Generations (W*ING). While Nagasaki would leave the promotion he co-founded in 1999, Kojika has remained an active wrestler (even at 78 years old) and Chairman. Over the years, Big Japan has had working partnerships with Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) and CHIKARA in the US and Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw) in Germany and has seen many of their stars, such as Daisuke Sekimoto, become international attractions. In 2009, BJW star Takashi Sasaki started his own deathmatch promotion, Pro Wrestling FREEDOMS, that also works with BJW.
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