New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, and based in Nakano, Tokyo. It is currently owned by card game company Bushiroad, while TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority shares of the company. Naoki Sugabayashi has served as the promotion's Chairman since September 2013, while Hiroshi Tanahashi has served as the president of the promotion since December 2023.
NJPW headquarters in Nakano, Tokyo
Image: Jon Moxley Oct 2021
Image: 2023.11.04 David Finlay (cropped)
Image: SHO (wrestler)
Muhammad Hussain Inoki was a Japanese professional wrestler, martial artist, politician, and promoter of professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. He was best known by the ring name Antonio Inoki , a homage to fellow professional wrestler Antonino Rocca. Inoki was a twelve-time professional wrestling world champion, notably being the first IWGP Heavyweight Champion and the first Asian WWF Heavyweight Champion – a reign not officially recognized by WWE.
Inoki in 2012
Antonio Inoki wrestling with Ernie Ladd in June 1975.
Inoki delivering a speech in North Korea, 2014. Inoki's regular visits to the country strained his relations with the Japanese Diet.
