Originally published at Bushiroad preparing to resume live events, STARDOM and NJPW talents taking Antibody tests - POST Wrestling | WWE AEW NXT NJPW Podcasts, News, Reviews
The last time that New Japan Pro-Wrestling ran a show was in February during their New Japan Road tour. For STARDOM, their last show took place in March which was their 2020 Cinderella tournament that was won by Giulia and the two organizations under the Bushiroad banner could be resuming live shows, per Yahoo! Japan.
The article reads that on May 3rd, Bushiroad announced that all STARDOM and NJPW performers along with staff would be undergoing Antibody tests following the Coronavirus outbreak. Japan officially ended its COVID-19 state of emergency in late May but live events have not resumed. Bushiroad has decided to now follow through with the Antibody tests for all staff members and athletes of STARDOM and New Japan for the restart of live events.
Along with STARDOM and NJPW, Bushiroad also wants to resume live events for their music division.
While New Japan Pro-Wrestling has been on hiatus, content is being/was uploaded to NJPW1972.com and NJPW World as a part of the ‘Together Project’. On April 8th, New Japan decided to cancel all events through May 4th and in the article they published concerning that specific cancellation stretch, it was noted that they were considering the option of doing empty arena shows.
On May 23rd, STARDOM announced the passing of 22-year old, former Goddess of STARDOM Champion Hana Kimura. Kimura’s death was covered by mainstream media outlets such as CNN that shared the information that cyberbullying laws in Japan were being discussed by the government because of her passing.
Multi-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi did an interview with Sports Illustrated last week and shared that he is not too keen on the idea of running empty arena shows.
“There isn’t a governing body for Japanese pro wrestling. As such, we can’t necessarily enforce cancellations. That’s been the responsibility of each company. But to run events in the middle of a pandemic presents the wrong image of professional wrestling to society and would deal a black eye to the industry that might still remain even after the pandemic ends.
“I thought it was important for us to come together, understand exactly what’s happening and do what’s right, even if that means returning to action after other pro sports.”
Along with the aforementioned promotions, All Japan Pro Wrestling President Takenori Fukuda announced that the 2020 Champion Carnival tournament will take place in September. For more information on that, click this link.