WON reports talent unhappy in New Japan, Meij/Tama refute

[corndog]

old.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/9n8bjo/won_wrestlers_in_njpw_very_unhappy_with_new/

Summary, for those who don't want to read all of this. Meltzer reports in the latest Observer newsletter that wrestlers in New Japan are unhappy with new management, particularly new GM Michael Craven. Some talent is actually considering leaving the company, including those who never did before.

Meij refutes this in his blog on New Japan's Japanese site. sp.njpw.jp/freediary/harold-george-meij20

The translation was rough, but he basically said it's not true and if it was he would not allow it. Meij says what Tama Tonga said on Twitter is the truth. Tama calls out the Bucks/Kenny/Cody for "crying to Meltzer", says it's BS everyone is happy, making lots of money and Japanese talent has never been unhappy despite the allegations. Kenny and Cody actually reply to him.

Here is the first tweet Tama puts out on this, but he has several more


twitter.com/Tama_Tonga/status/1050546656771375104


Quote from WON:


"Let’s just say that the next few months are going to be very interesting. Some early contract offers made have raised some concern to go along with the issues mentioned in last week’s issue. While there is a lot of pride here for the quality of the matches stemming from the Kobe and Long Beach shows during what is usually the post-G-1 down period, and the great reaction to G-1 and its business success, but the new regime (Harold Meij and new General Manager Michael Craven) is very different and not experienced in dealing with wrestlers. There may be economics that we’re not aware of, but there was a lot about the U.S. expansion with enthusiasm, between the new dojo and running a regular California and West Coast second circuit (which I don’t think would have been a good idea) and the pull back from there, and other changes. But it feels like a lot has changed in the last 30 days. Craven, who is believed to be the head of talent relations as well as international expansion, may be the most unpopular guy among the wrestlers with the new regime. Craven I believe was the Tech Business Director at Hays Japan, managing technology recruitment for a company and had worked in IT recruitment for 20 years. He has lived in Japan since 1998, coming from the U.K. and has been involved in developing many of the top senior level technology executives in Asia. The initial reaction was that the feeling was that he talks down to the wrestlers and made strange comments and they know he has no background in wrestling, which is a very unique industry. Morale with the company was very high as you could tell by any interviews with the talent, particularly during G-1 where the level of work had led to high pride across the board with the feeling they were doing the best matches in the world and producing the best overall product. Now the morale is more weird than anything, with more uncertainty about what will happen next and less confidence than with the old administration. Another person noted that the new team has gotten off to a rough start and that all the wrestlers, both Japanese and American, are talking about how they feel like they are seen as workers in a factory assembly line as opposed to high level athletes or entertainers. The excitement so many had for working here has taken a hit. It’s really a bad time for that with the goal of international expansion and that fun vs. WWE money was a key to a lot of people, but if you lower the fun aspect, that changes the equation, and basically we’re coming in on the single most interesting and important contract season since New Japan started garnering some international growth. There are people who in the past had never even considered WWE who are thinking about it, and others who were completely committed to staying who are probably still leaning that way, but are considering the WWE option."


My thoughts, this could definitely be a work, but if not it is very interesting. Is it a power play by the Elite, just them working Meltzer or Meltzer working with them? Although the last "Being the Elite" heavily talks about them possibly going to WWE, so there is a strong chance it's an elaborate work.

[Rave]

I'll be surprised if that douchebag Elgin wasn't involved in this.

[corndog]

Oct 12, 2018 16:49:12 GMT -5 Rave said:

I'll be surprised if that douchebag Elgin wasn't involved in this.

Tama accuses the Elite, but you could be on the something. He hasn't been booked in New Japan much since the G1.

[cabbageboy]

Good grief, could anything be more obvious than Meltzer being worked in all of this? I don't entirely get why the Elite guys are the "Unhappy" ones though while the guy that was nearly fired (Tama) is waxing poetic about management.

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

Omega was making fun of the old guys on their PPV posters as recently as Super Showdown. I doubt he's actually going. Vince allows a lot of weird shit at his own expense for heat, but not Taker's.

[corndog]

Another article with a slightly different perspective and this came out before Meij and Tama's comments.

Credit to : Japanese Puroresu Ichiban - ジャパン・プロレス・イチバン
​
So now there's an unique situation in NJPW.
Wrestling Observer wrote "Wrestlers in NJPW are very unhappy with the new management, feel the fun of working for the company has disappeared." Our sources #Scoop can confirm that the news is true but it's mainly from gaijins who worked in there and some wrestlers who hate the way of the "new regime"
But for a Japanese perspective, especially the wrestlers outside NJPW, this era is what are they waiting for. Most of the Japanese wrestlers love to work with puroresu style and prefer to stay in Japan but they can't deny that they actually want to work in a major company, a company that recognized as a global promotion and get a better paid.
A few years ago most of those wrestlers don't have too much choice and set WWE as the primary goal. They actually know that if they have to work in WWE, they must let everything and don't have too much expectation. Just continue with the flow because success or not at least they can get big money from there.
But now the perspective has changed. Business in NJPW is growing rapidly domestically and internationally and many business websites reported that the trend will continue for years. With the massive news and talks about NJPW lately, those wrestlers see NJPW as a major company that they want to work. They want to wrestle in Tokyo Dome, get mainstream attention and have more fans in overseas. They also don't need to risk their career for trying to work in WWE and continue his passion because they still can wrestle with puroresu style. So don't be surprised if there will be more Japanese top stars like Shingo and Ishimori work for New Japan in the near future.

[Slanted and Enchanted]

Seems like a work to me, especially with the latest episode of BTE, Tama's tweets, Meij's response (in addition to being on TV a few times). If this is 'true' I think the issue is being exaggerated and likely from a disgruntled employee. I really hope we don't get some sort of evil authority figure angle over this though.

[Lance Uppercut]

Oh I can totally see people being unhappy there. Something I didn’t think about until I heard John Pollock discussing New Japan on a podcast is, that as much ast he fans seem to want New Japan to grow and expand to compete with WWE, it’s leading them to increase their workload and messing with their schedule.

Guys used to work for a couple weeks, do a tour, and go home for a couple weeks. Now they’re on the road near WWE levels and constantly getting on planes and going back and forth from Japan and the US (sometimes UK).

It’s like how Everyone loved TNA because it was the lighter schedule and easy payday and more creative freedom, but obsession with growth from the company and fans led to changes that removed a lot of its charm and benefits for the wrestlers.

[Brood Lone Wolf Funker]

Omega killed any credit Tama had with his refute

[HMARK Center]

Oct 12, 2018 17:15:08 GMT -5 Lance Uppercut said:

Oh I can totally see people being unhappy there. Something I didn’t think about until I heard John Pollock discussing New Japan on a podcast is, that as much ast he fans seem to want New Japan to grow and expand to compete with WWE, it’s leading them to increase their workload and messing with their schedule.

Guys used to work for a couple weeks, do a tour, and go home for a couple weeks. Now they’re on the road near WWE levels and constantly getting on planes and going back and forth from Japan and the US (sometimes UK).

It’s like how Everyone loved TNA because it was the lighter schedule and easy payday and more creative freedom, but obsession with growth from the company and fans led to changes that removed a lot of its charm and benefits for the wrestlers.

Is that really going to be the case among most of the gaijin, though? A lot of the Elite guys haven't been there as frequently lately (and the Bucks aren't even doing Tag League this year) outside of the major cards and Hangman's G1 run, Chase Owens will travel there at the drop of a hat and always has, Firing Squad seems pretty content if Tama's tweet is anything to go by, KES wasn't even around for a few months, White only returned a year ago, and Sabre only recently signed a contract. Juice and Finlay are on more tours than a lot of the other foreigners, so maybe, but it's not like they're working tons more tour dates than they did in previous years, and have simply added a couple extra stateside cards this year. Someone brought up Elgin earlier, and I guess it's noticeable that he hasn't been around lately, but it's hard to figure who else.

Said it in the other thread, but given the current "classic puro vs. western influence" meta storyline this really does smack of largely a work to me. I don't doubt that there have been some changes in the office, I don't doubt there's been some fits and starts with their expansion plans, but given that the in-ring product has remained steady, there hasn't been some radical departure in the show's presentation, and there isn't any indication that anyone's losing money relative to where they were a year ago, it seems strange that the locker room's morale would go from "hyped after doing strong business during G1" to "uh oh, tons of people are gonna run to WWE!" in literally one month's time.

[corndog]

Oct 12, 2018 17:15:08 GMT -5 Lance Uppercut said:

Oh I can totally see people being unhappy there. Something I didn’t think about until I heard John Pollock discussing New Japan on a podcast is, that as much ast he fans seem to want New Japan to grow and expand to compete with WWE, it’s leading them to increase their workload and messing with their schedule.

Guys used to work for a couple weeks, do a tour, and go home for a couple weeks. Now they’re on the road near WWE levels and constantly getting on planes and going back and forth from Japan and the US (sometimes UK).

It’s like how Everyone loved TNA because it was the lighter schedule and easy payday and more creative freedom, but obsession with growth from the company and fans led to changes that removed a lot of its charm and benefits for the wrestlers.

If you read the article I posted later in this thread, it says a lot of the Japanese talent is happy about the growth, but I can see why it would turn off some of the gaijins. It's pretty obvious the Bucks are tired of the 14 hour flight to Japan.

As far as the schedule, Suzuki is a freelancer yet he seems to like working in the UK. Ishii is completely insane as he works all of the New Japan shows, then works the UK and the US shows. Nagata works the UK shows as well and All Japan. Naito did a mini indy US tour last year, Mexico and works the US New Japan shows. So I think a lot of the guys don't mind working more considering they do side gigs outside of New Japan. The main deal would be if they are working more, but not getting paid more, although that doesn't seem to be the case. Also, they tend to give the older talent breaks and a lot of the gaijins aren't at the smaller shows. If this was the Elite, I can't see what they have to complain about, they get a lot of time off from New Japan.

Another one is Elgin. I have noticed he hasn't been on a New Japan show since the Destruction show in Hiroshima. As we know, Elgin does give Meltzer information, reflected in Meltzer's protection of Elgin after his incident. Maybe Meij wasn't too pleased with what happened and how it was handled.

[corndog]

Oct 12, 2018 17:46:01 GMT -5 HMARK Center said:

Oct 12, 2018 17:15:08 GMT -5 Lance Uppercut said:

Oh I can totally see people being unhappy there. Something I didn’t think about until I heard John Pollock discussing New Japan on a podcast is, that as much ast he fans seem to want New Japan to grow and expand to compete with WWE, it’s leading them to increase their workload and messing with their schedule.

Guys used to work for a couple weeks, do a tour, and go home for a couple weeks. Now they’re on the road near WWE levels and constantly getting on planes and going back and forth from Japan and the US (sometimes UK).

It’s like how Everyone loved TNA because it was the lighter schedule and easy payday and more creative freedom, but obsession with growth from the company and fans led to changes that removed a lot of its charm and benefits for the wrestlers.

Is that really going to be the case among most of the gaijin, though? A lot of the Elite guys haven't been there as frequently lately (and the Bucks aren't even doing Tag League this year) outside of the major cards and Hangman's G1 run, Chase Owens will travel there at the drop of a hat and always has, Firing Squad seems pretty content if Tama's tweet is anything to go by, KES wasn't even around for a few months, White only returned a year ago, and Sabre only recently signed a contract. Juice and Finlay are on more tours than a lot of the other foreigners, so maybe, but it's not like they're working tons more tour dates than they did in previous years, and have simply added a couple extra stateside cards this year. Someone brought up Elgin earlier, and I guess it's noticeable that he hasn't been around lately, but it's hard to figure who else.

Said it in the other thread, but given the current "classic puro vs. western influence" meta storyline this really does smack of largely a work to me. I don't doubt that there have been some changes in the office, I don't doubt there's been some fits and starts with their expansion plans, but given that the in-ring product has remained steady, there hasn't been some radical departure in the show's presentation, and there isn't any indication that anyone's losing money relative to where they were a year ago, it seems strange that the locker room's morale would go from "hyped after doing strong business during G1" to "uh oh, tons of people are gonna run to WWE!" in literally one month's time.

I was writing my last post when you created this, had I seen this I wouldn't have made mine. I agree this definitely sounds like a work as it fits perfectly in the "traditional New Japan vs the West" storyline. The last part is what really made me question Meltzer, seriously in a months time you go from "everything is great" to "New Japan is WCW 1989 and their could be a mass exodus of top talent"?

[HMARK Center]

Oct 12, 2018 18:00:04 GMT -5 corndog said:

Oct 12, 2018 17:46:01 GMT -5 HMARK Center said:

Is that really going to be the case among most of the gaijin, though? A lot of the Elite guys haven't been there as frequently lately (and the Bucks aren't even doing Tag League this year) outside of the major cards and Hangman's G1 run, Chase Owens will travel there at the drop of a hat and always has, Firing Squad seems pretty content if Tama's tweet is anything to go by, KES wasn't even around for a few months, White only returned a year ago, and Sabre only recently signed a contract. Juice and Finlay are on more tours than a lot of the other foreigners, so maybe, but it's not like they're working tons more tour dates than they did in previous years, and have simply added a couple extra stateside cards this year. Someone brought up Elgin earlier, and I guess it's noticeable that he hasn't been around lately, but it's hard to figure who else.

Said it in the other thread, but given the current "classic puro vs. western influence" meta storyline this really does smack of largely a work to me. I don't doubt that there have been some changes in the office, I don't doubt there's been some fits and starts with their expansion plans, but given that the in-ring product has remained steady, there hasn't been some radical departure in the show's presentation, and there isn't any indication that anyone's losing money relative to where they were a year ago, it seems strange that the locker room's morale would go from "hyped after doing strong business during G1" to "uh oh, tons of people are gonna run to WWE!" in literally one month's time.

I was writing my last post when you created this, had I seen this I wouldn't have made mine. I agree this definitely sounds like a work as it fits perfectly in the "traditional New Japan vs the West" storyline. The last part is what really made me question Meltzer, seriously in a months time you go from "everything is great" to "New Japan is WCW 1989 and their could be a mass exodus of top talent"?

To be fair to Meltzer I don't think he's necessarily going that far, and the exaggerated vibe is more a result of people reading this report and running wild with it around the internet. But yeah, ultimately it's not like the new regime hasn't been in charge for awhile now, so why would things suddenly just in the past month go from "thumbs up!" to "man, I'm feeling disrespected around here", particularly when there hasn't been any noticeable change in the company's presentation or business practices?

Meij apparently said that this guy Craven has been wrongly identified, which adds a weird wrinkle to this whole thing, but I don't claim to know what's really going on with that.

Of course this has also led to some people turning this into a chance to have backlash toward the Elite guys, since Tama used his tweet to play that up and people obviously know the whole "will they/won't they" game those fellas have played the past couple of years. I think once it's at that point then people are twisting themselves into a work, brother.

[Deleted]

If this is a work, it’s the corniest shit I’ve ever seen. If it’s legit, it’s a lot of fun to watch.

[Natural Born Farmer]

The walls of text in this thread have made me totally unable to follow what’s going on. But I’d bet their top guys know who butters their bread and are not in a big hurry to take chances on being Kato stateside.

[cabbageboy]

Yeah what was it that Omega and Cody had to say? I couldn't find it.

[cabbageboy]

Double post.

[Urethra Franklin]

I’m sure the Tama/Omega stuff is a work, but everybody knows that Meltzer has direct contact with many of the Elite guys, so it wouldn’t be a stretch to suggest that one (or more of them) was at least a partial source here.


Complete speculation on my part, but I wonder if Juice might have been a source here since I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he weren’t thrilled with how things are going right now, considering how he’s gone from US Champion to not being featured prominently in short order.


It’s also interesting that Meltzer reports it’s both gaijin and Japanese wrestlers who feel this way. It’d be one thing for, say, Adam Page to jump to WWE, but another altogether for a guy like KUSHIDA, for example, to make the move when assurances aren’t nearly as set.

I know it wasn’t WWE, but surely the experiences of SANADA and Okada might be enough to scare guys away from North America.

[This Player Hating Mothman]

Oct 12, 2018 23:18:30 GMT -5 Urethra Franklin said:

I’m sure the Tama/Omega stuff is a work, but everybody knows that Meltzer has direct contact with many of the Elite guys, so it wouldn’t be a stretch to suggest that one (or more of them) was at least a partial source here.


Complete speculation on my part, but I wonder if Juice might have been a source here since I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he weren’t thrilled with how things are going right now, considering how he’s gone from US Champion to not being featured prominently in short order.


It’s also interesting that Meltzer reports it’s both gaijin and Japanese wrestlers who feel this way. It’d be one thing for, say, Adam Page to jump to WWE, but another altogether for a guy like KUSHIDA, for example, to make the move when assurances aren’t nearly as set.

I know it wasn’t WWE, but surely the experiences of SANADA and Okada might be enough to scare guys away from North America.

I doubt Juice would be one of the complainers, he seems to be pretty happy with his place in New Japan, which is honestly only improving as time goes on. He was still on the card of KOPW and he's almost definitely going to be in the World Tag League coming up. Of anyone who's looking at maybe taking a second look at an NXT contract and weighing the options I doubt he's on the table.

[honsou]

When it comes to Meji responding so quickly, I'll say what probably sounds as a Yogism

I'm not sure if its a good sign or a bad sign but its certainly a sign