Contract season has hit Japan hard, with nearly every major promotion jockeying for position and making moves on available talent. We’ve collected a pile of news and rumors, and here is what we are hearing regarding each promotion.

Pro Wrestling NOAH

The big news out of NOAH is regarding Hiroshi Hase, who debuted as the “X” at NOAH’s “The New Year 2023” show on New Year’s Day. NOAH Is pushing hard to sign Hase, who turns 62 in 2023, to a multi-year deal, with the mindset of continuing the strategy of capturing the lapsed fan market employed by the company over the last few years with people like Kazuyuki Fujita, Masakatsu Funanki, and most notably, Keiji Muto. Muto’s retirement tour has drawn big money, with Great Muta vs Shinsuke Nakamura drawing a sellout crowd to Budokan Hall and Bushiroad concerned internally that Muto’s final match in the Tokyo Dome will embarrass New Japan by outdrawing WrestleKingdom. CyberFight's concern, and it is a valid one, is that when Muto retires, NOAH business will decline.

Hase was surprised at the offer, amused by the idea he would be offered a contract at this stage of his life, and was brought in as a one off on the New Year's show to test the waters. He was said to be reluctant to consider a long term offer at his age, but the money is “too good to refuse” according to one source, and would obviously be tied to a big main event level push.

For what it’s worth, Hase has been added to NOAH’s roster page, but we have no confirmation as to whether he has signed any official deal.

Jake Lee made a surprise appearance at the New Year’s show and like Hase, we are unable to confirm whether he has signed. Following his departure from AJPW in December (the details of which we outlined in a previous report), Lee once again sent feelers to New Japan, but like AJPW’s attempt to secure Lee a G1 spot, there hasn’t been much interest. Lee has an offer on the table from NOAH, and the money is better than what he was making with All Japan.

The All Japan office felt blindsided by NOAH’s interest in Lee, and felt they should have been informed by NOAH that they planned to bring him in, especially in light of the new working relationship between the groups (which we outlined in that same report a few weeks ago). Lee is telling people he’s not going to be with NOAH long term, which could be kayfabe, but could also be an indication he still covets a New Japan spot and that the timing just isn’t right for that yet.

CyberFight has the green light to make big money offers and Muto is coming off the books this year. Jushin Thunder Liger is an interesting name that was brought up to us as am ambassador type. Liger has slid down the ladder in terms of New Japan office influence in recent years, and has been booked by NOAH on commentary. NOAH has been very happy with the work and attitude of Satoshi Kojima, who has long standing allies with NOAH, and who is no longer being pushed in New Japan. He could stand to make more money with a jump.

In regards to KENTA, we were told he worked the New Year's show as part of the exchange for Muto working WrestleKingdom, and that there is no fear right now that he would leave New Japan. KENTA's history with NOAH is considered insignificant, as the Pro Wrestling NOAH he worked for was essentially a completely different company than the one that exists today.

AJPW

We detailed the departures of Tajiri and Izanagi in our last news update, but what we didn’t know at the time was how that affected the Junior Battle Of Glory field.

Tajiri, Izanagi, SUGI, and Black Menso-re were originally earmarked for what was to be a 10-man field, with two 5-man blocks. When the decision was made to not renew Tajiri’s contract, he was pulled from the tournament. As we noted previously, Izanagi quit on the spot when he found out NOSAWA Rongai was coming in, as the two have long standing nuclear heat. The original plan was for SUGI, who had been out since the spring, to return for the tournament (and possibly win). Rongai coming in killed the return, due to long standing beyond nuclear heat, as back in 2012, in one of the most bizarre stories in wrestling history, SUGI planted drugs on Rongai and girlfriend Io Shirai, which derailed Rongai’s career at the time and has affected the careers of both Rongai and Shirai to this day, despite SUGI confessing to the act. Suffice to say, Rongai coming in meant SUGI was out, and there are no plans to use him moving forward. Menso-re was moved into an All Asia tag title program and the field was reduced to one 6-man block, with the simple outcome of champion Atsuki Aoyagi winning the tournament.

The company is pushing hard to lure Takuya Nomura full time from Big Japan. Nomura has been teaming with Kento Miyahara for months, with Miyahara positioned as Nomura’s mentor, with the long term plan being dangled to Nomura that would see an eventual split and top of the card feud. One source indicated that Nomura isn’t interested in making a jump, but is open to continuing working in both places.

With Tajiri out of the picture, Naoya Nomura has agreed to a lot of dates and it looks like he will work the majority of tours moving forward. He has not signed a contract to our knowledge.

Dragongate

Dragongate, in a big departure from their past, is combing the market for expiring contracts of wrestlers who fit their template, and making a big push for big name stars from other companies.

We can confirm Dragongate has made offers to both SHO and YOH (to be clear, separate offers, not as a proposed package/tag team) of New Japan. SHO, who has not been happy with his lack of push after initially being pleased with the opportunity to work as a single, was told a big push would be waiting for him with Dragongate, who see both SHO and YOH as perfect fits. SHO is showing more interest than YOH, who we were told is happy with his New Japan spot and not likely to jump. SHO does what he is asked in his House of Torture role and has not been a problem, but largely just goes through the motions.

Other names Dragongate has shown interest in include Hokuto Omori and Yosuke Kodama of All Japan.

New Japan

The decision to disband Suzuki-gun came from the top, as Bushiroad upper management continues to wield more and more influence on the on screen product.

The majority of SZG is working on handshake deals, as has been the case for many years. The Karl Anderson debacle has spooked the office into insisting that all core roster members be locked into contracts. With so many SZG members unsigned, upper management wanted them either all signed or broken up, to reduce the possibility of jumping somewhere together as a fully formed unit. This call was not made by the booking office.

There is a strong possibility that many of the unsigned SZG members (aside from Minoru Suzuki, who already works plenty of freelance) will opt to work freelance, with the feeling New Japan will still use them for tournaments and the bigger tours. We can confirm Yoshinobu Kanemaru was one of the few SZG members who at one time were under New Japan contract, but it is unknown if that remains the case. El Desperado is not under contract. Taichi was at one time working on a handshake agreement, and it can be reasonably assumed he is not under contract. Lance Archer is under contract to AEW. Minoru Suzuki has always been freelance. TAKA Michinoku is not under contract. Zack Sabre Jr is said to be under contract, although we could not officially confirm. DOUKI’s contract status is unknown.

BUSHI has been exchanging cryptic tweets with NOSAWA Rongai. The obvious speculation is that BUSHI is possibly being wooed by AJPW, where he began his career and where many of his old pals are back in some level of influence. Industry rumors of BUSHI possibly departing New Japan began many months ago, and quickly spread to insider fans. Titan being added to LIJ added to the speculation, and it’s possible New Japan is aware of BUSHI’s potential departure and proactively brought in Titan to replace him as the units junior loss post. To be clear, we haven’t been able to confirm BUSHI’s contract status.