During NJPW's 2022 Business Strategy Presentation on Thursday, NJPW president Takami Ohbari revealed that wrestlers from the STARDOM roster will be competing in NJPW of America rings moving forward.
This is major news after reports of STARDOM potentially being part of the AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door were confirmed by AEW owner Tony Khan, who said in the post-show media scrum that there were talks of including STARDOM on the show but it did not work out due to them being booked and no longer having existing visas.
NJPW STRONG was a backbone for NJPW throughout the pandemic, allowing current IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Jay White and others to compete under the NJPW banner while being unable to travel to Japan. It also presented NJPW an opportunity to welcome independent and contracted wrestlers to NJPW in a whole new way. JONAH and "Filthy" Tom Lawlor were among the standouts who competed on NJPW STRONG and are both set to compete in the G1 Climax this month.
STARDOM getting to compete in the United States could help bring more eyes to the growing promotion. It would allow STARDOM to also follow NJPW's footsteps in working with wrestlers from the independent scene in the United States while also potentially making relationships with US-based promotions in the process, much like NJPW has with AEW and IMPACT Wrestling.
It was a month ago on June 6 that NJPW and STARDOM announced their first-ever joint show for November 20 at the new Ariake Arena in Japan during the Bushiroad 15th Anniversary press conference, furthering the relationship between the two promotions.
Also during the presentation on Thursday, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Ohbari revealed there would be two mixed tag matches set for the NJPW x STARDOM show.