Former IWGP Heavyweight Champion Jay White has been a top star on the primary New Japan Pro-Wrestling company, and he’s also had a prominent role on its stateside brand, NJPW STRONG. “Switchblade” faced Christopher Daniels in a high-profile match at the Nemesis taping on December 9, which was the latest in a long line of strong cards from the brand.
In an interview with Liam Wyatt of Inside The Ropes, when asked about how much NJPW STRONG can continue to grow, White initially noted that he doesn’t want to specifically qualify how far he thinks it can go because it doesn’t want to limit the brand in that regard. He explained that he’s taking matters one day at a time and enjoying it as long as he can.
“I’m not sure how far,” said White. “I’m not gonna put any limit on that and I don’t even have a goal, to be honest, because then I would be putting a limit on it. So I’m just gonna keep riding it like everything, for the last however long, it’s kind of a day by day. We adapt as things come, but the crowds are great. Once we’ve managed to get the fans back to it, obviously that makes a huge difference and then even for those I’m sure watching it (at home), now you can watch it with the crowds, watch how they enjoy it and now they’re going to want to come to the live shows.
“And now that we’ve just been getting bigger and bigger each show that we do, so yeah, next goal wise, honestly, I’m not sure, I haven’t got that far ahead. I’m just making sure that I’m involved in them so that they can do as best as they possibly can.”
Upon further consideration, White explained that he wants to make NJPW STRONG “the main thing”; whereas fans usually focus on the primary product in Japan, he aims to turn that focus to the stateside brand.
“Maybe I want to make STRONG – instead of what’s happening in Japan, with New Japan being people’s main focus and wanting to get guys to that – I want to turn that focus on to STRONG, make people think “STRONG is where it is now,'” said White. “We want to see people come to STRONG and I want to make that the main thing.”
NJPW STRONG continues to gain momentum and accumulate talent; former WWE star Jonah (Bronson Reed) debuted earlier this fall, and ROH lead broadcaster Ian Riccaboni announced that he’ll be calling the action at NJPW STRONG: New Beginning on January 15.
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