NJPW President Harold Meij On Trying To Get Back To Normal

In an interview with Sports Illustrated, NJPW President Harold Meij spoke about the company attempting to get back to normal in the wake of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Here are highlights:

On the impact of coronavirus: “The Coronavirus has impacted the entire world. However, throughout our 50-year history we have experienced and overcome numerous crises, not only emerging stronger as an organization, but also as a good social beacon bringing hope and excitement worldwide. NJPW sincerely believes professional wrestling will once again unite us all very soon, sharing our passion for wrestling together.”

On NJPW’s cancellations: “At this moment in time, our events, up to and including March 21, have been cancelled. Everyone involved in this situation wants to get back to business as usual immediately afterward, and we are working toward that. The situation is fluid, however, and we have to act responsibly. The Coronavirus has dramatically affected how sports and events-based businesses worldwide are able to operate. Being the biggest professional wrestling organization in Japan put a spotlight upon us and gave us a significant social responsibility. It has been our duty to not just act in the best interests of our fans, wrestlers and staff, but of society at large.”

On attempting to bring content to fans: “We’ve thought about what we could do to boost morale of all our fans, and hence the ‘Together Project’ was launched. This project seeks to use our streaming service, NJPW World, to stream original content on a regular basis. This includes creating and streaming programs such as live talk shows by the wrestlers, never-before-seen matches, interviews, and the addition of wrestler commentary and point of view to their own matches, all with the goal to give fans unique content in these trying times. We were encouraged to see our first live talk session reaching the sixth highest trend on Twitter, and this content has also been made available in English, giving our international fanbase the chance to see another side of our Japanese talent.”