(NOAH) Pro Wrestling Noah becomes a subsidiary of CyberAgent

29th January 2020
Yahoo Japan

CyberAgent have announced that it will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Noah Global Entertainment, which operates Pro Wrestling Noah. Noah will become a wholly-owned consolidated subsidiary of CyberAgent.

In September 2017, CyberAgent acquired pro wrestling promotion DDT, which had launched in 1997. In addition to the performance and services of professional wrestling, they broadcast regular events such as live broadcasts on AbemaTV and "DDT Thursday TheNIGHT". At the same time they have been trying to raise awareness of affiliated wrestlers using blogs and social media.

Pro Wrestling Noah was launched in August 2000 by Mitsuharu Misawa, who became independent from All Japan, but in recent years management has been unstable, and the situation was unstable.
Akihiro Takeda, who became President of Noah in 2019, consulted with Noritaka Takagi (ring name Sanshiro Takagi), the president and CEO of DDT pro wrestling on management. It is said that there was talk about whether the pro wrestling business could be developed, including wrestler exchanges, a video distribution service, and Marufuji's participation in DDT. Takagi's proposal to Susumu Fujita (President of CyberAgent), through Takagi, resulted in an agreement that Noah would join the CyberAgent group.
Takeda said, "Having stable management is something Noah longs for, and it is a huge opportunity for the re-entry to the Budokan and to Tokyo Dome, which were once held twice in the past. I will look at the numbers more stringently than before. In the future, alongside DDT, we will aim for the top position in the industry, by providing pro wrestling content that will amaze people."

Takagi stated, "DDT has been very much taken care of by stakeholders such as Mitsuharu Misawa, who founded Noah, and we have had a good relationship since the old days, such as when DDT wrestlers would complete in Noah's big matches. Now, saving Noah will lead to further development of the industry. A partnership between Noah and DDT, could offer a new perspective."

From now on, office work related to management will be shared by the same group. In terms of distribution, Noah will still broadcast on G+ and Samurai TV. In addition, Abema will broadcast the Korakuen Hall event on February 16. DDT will also broadcast a free live Noah Korakuen Hall show on January 30th via "DDT Universe". Hereafter, Noah event will be broadcast live on "DDT Universe" once of twice a month. On demand distribution is planned.

Fujita decided on Noah as a group for these reasons, "The appeal and potential of professional wrestling for AbemaTV", "the characteristics of Noah and DDT are complimentary to each other", and "as a group I expect further development and expansion of professional wrestling."

Noah's name and management structure will remain the same. Mr Takagi is the President of DDT, Noah's Naomichi Marufuji will be appointed vice president, and Takeda will stay on with Noah as an executive officer. Takagi says that although he is involved in Noah's corporate management, he will leave Marufuji and Takeda to take care of the ring.

Link to original article from Yahoo Japan
Picture credit: Yahoo Japan