Mark Cuban on Vince McMahon and New Japan Pro Wrestling

[L68]

Week in Wrestling: Mark Cuban on Vince McMahon and NJPW

December 13, 2017
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NEWS OF THE WEEK: MARK CUBAN ON VINCE MCMAHON AND NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING

New Japan Pro Wrestling airs every Friday night on AXS TV, and the television network, whose chairman is billionaire Mark Cuban, continues to invest more money into its pro wrestling show.

“We’re looking to expand it on Friday nights,” Cuban said in an exclusive interview with Sports Illustrated. “We want to do more live, as opposed to the delay, and we’re talking to them about special events.”

Despite a foray into the wrestling business, Cuban does not believe that WWE CEO Vince McMahon is threatened by the working relationship between AXS and New Japan.

“No, he thinks we’re just little sh---,” said Cuban. “We’re not a threat because of the language. That’s the biggest challenge, the language. But if you’re a purist for wrestling, and you like the action, it’s the best promotion by far. People here aren’t going to connect as directly, but if you really love wrestling, then it’s a no-brainer.”


Cuban is an advocate for those fans thirsting for more New Japan. He purchased the rights to air the top three title matches from New Japan’s Wrestle Kingdom 12–IWGP heavyweight champion Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito, IWGP Intercontinental champ Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jay White, and IWGP US champion Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho–in prime time on Saturday, January 6, only two days after the event takes place at the Tokyo Dome. Despite the high price to air Wrestle Kingdom on AXS, Cuban did not balk at the cost.

“We’re getting to know them better,” said Cuban. “We went from a delay to a short delay to live, so we’re going to get smarter about it. The numbers keep on going up. Other TVs are declining, and ours are going up. That’s a good sign. There are some nights when it beats MMA, it’s doing that well.”

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AXS TV produces the English language version of New Japan Pro Wrestling in association with TV ASAHI Corporation, which is the distributor of NJPW. Their coverage of Wrestle Kingdom 12 will continue on January 12, and the entire show will play out over the following five Friday nights. There will also be an eight-hour marathon on January 6 that will feature matches that set up Wrestle Kingdom.



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Cuban credited AXS TV Fights CEO Andrew Simon with leading the production, and he is thrilled to have WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross as the signature voice of the show.

“I even tune in to check out Jim,” said Cuban. “I can’t say I’m hardcore, but the show is more focused on the wrestling–that’s the glitz–than what you get anywhere else. The talent quality is equal to any of the other promotions, without question.”

Cuban noted that he is energized by the hardcore nature of the New Japan fans, and is excited to build an even wider audience with fans who have yet to experience New Japan on Friday nights with Jim Ross calling the action.

“We want people to get attached and become addicted to it,” said Cuban. “Now we’re online with DirectTV and Sling TV, and Philo.com, which is only $15 a month, so if you don’t have us on cable, you can get us online.

“There will be times in the future when we add more NJPW and less MMA. It’s a Friday night staple.”

 

[Amor fati]

Interesting.

 

[stro]

Mark's gonna mark, but the reality is NJPW operates at a level 30x smaller than WWE in terms of revenue and profit. NJPW is, at best, an alternative, not a competitor to WWE. The "Us vs. Them" narrative is just selling shyt to a specific group of fans that inherently buy into that anyway. It's not a language or quality thing. WWE operates in the near billion range. NJPW operates in the 30 million range.

Even in Japan, a Raw house show out drew Okada/Omega 3 this year.

 

[niguez]

Can Cuban be the next Ted Turner?

 

[Theolodius_Black]

Mark's gonna mark, but the reality is NJPW operates at a level 30x smaller than WWE in terms of revenue and profit. NJPW is, at best, an alternative, not a competitor to WWE. The "Us vs. Them" narrative is just selling shyt to a specific group of fans that inherently buy into that anyway. It's not a language or quality thing. WWE operates in the near billion range. NJPW operates in the 30 million range.

Even in Japan, a Raw house show out drew Okada/Omega 3 this year.

I believe that within that statement lies they're greatest, and everyone else's for that matter, strength. We are the "alternative". It's one of the places TNA went wrong. You can't out Vince Vince. But if you embrace being the alternative, which it sounds like Cuban understands that, then you can make an impact and truly expand into that market and build a larger fan base. I still believe that, despite being catered to " hardcore" fans, NJPW still has much to offer casual fans just because it's something different.

Side note: I didn't know Mark Cuban bumped with wrestling like that
It's like homie said above. Interesting. Very interesting.

 

[John Reena]

NJPW has a cool product.....BUT WWE is simply more entertaining. Where else u gonna get over the top stuff like “Fashion Files”, Jericho’s “List”, or Kane being a corporate supervisor?

 

[stro]

I believe that within that statement lies they're greatest, and everyone else's for that matter, strength. We are the "alternative". It's one of the places TNA went wrong. You can't out Vince Vince. But if you embrace being the alternative, which it sounds like Cuban understands that, then you can make an impact and truly expand into that market and build a larger fan base. I still believe that, despite being catered to " hardcore" fans, NJPW still has much to offer casual fans just because it's something different.

Side note: I didn't know Mark Cuban bumped with wrestling like that
It's like homie said above. Interesting. Very interesting.

No for sure NJPW can be an alternative, in the same sense that college radio was an alternative to mainstream radio, or cable networks and then Netflix putting out quality content are alternatives. The Walking Dead getting huge cable numbers and cache still gets less viewers than whatever nonsense trash on the networks that you don't even know a single person IRL who watches gets. Like, Big Bang Theory and CSI were the biggest shows on TV for YEARS, but how many discussions did you ever have with people about whatever the latest CSI storyline was in 2015? Or BBT ever? NCIS is about the most generic network show possible, and it's been in the top 1-5 for like 12 years now.

Meanwhile, you probably talked with some folks about House of Cards, or Breaking Bad, or TWD, or Marvel Netflix shows, online and off. Yet their actual viewership numbers are insignificant in comparison. WWE is TBBT, the biggest show in its genre on TV, despite many other shows in the genre seemingly getting more attention from critics and audiences than anything else combined.

 

[dh86]

Mark's gonna mark, but the reality is NJPW operates at a level 30x smaller than WWE in terms of revenue and profit. NJPW is, at best, an alternative, not a competitor to WWE. The "Us vs. Them" narrative is just selling shyt to a specific group of fans that inherently buy into that anyway. It's not a language or quality thing. WWE operates in the near billion range. NJPW operates in the 30 million range.

Even in Japan, a Raw house show out drew Okada/Omega 3 this year.

You’re literally replying to nothing anyone here said.

 

[stro]

You’re literally replying to nothing anyone here said.

I'm literally replying to Mark Cuban's comments

 

[Theolodius_Black]

No for sure NJPW can be an alternative, in the same sense that college radio was an alternative to mainstream radio, or cable networks and then Netflix putting out quality content are alternatives. The Walking Dead getting huge cable numbers and cache still gets less viewers than whatever nonsense trash on the networks that you don't even know a single person IRL who watches gets. Like, Big Bang Theory and CSI were the biggest shows on TV for YEARS, but how many discussions did you ever have with people about whatever the latest CSI storyline was in 2015? Or BBT ever? NCIS is about the most generic network show possible, and it's been in the top 1-5 for like 12 years now.

Meanwhile, you probably talked with some folks about House of Cards, or Breaking Bad, or TWD, or Marvel Netflix shows, online and off. Yet their actual viewership numbers are insignificant in comparison. WWE is TBBT, the biggest show in its genre on TV, despite many other shows in the genre seemingly getting more attention from critics and audiences than anything else combined.

I'm not debating that. Like at all. What I'm saying is if they can grow by remaining focused on being the alternative and not the competitor, they can experience major success in the US market. Sticking with the tv narrative, it's like z nation and TWD. Z nation is an alternative and only required a portion of that fan base to be successful. Too bad it kinda sucksbut you get my point. If a portion wanders over just out of interest in the alternative, they'll be more successful over here.

 

[stro]

I'm not debating that. Like at all. What I'm saying is if they can grow by remaining focused on being the alternative and not the competitor, they can experience major success in the US market. Sticking with the tv narrative, it's like z nation and TWD. Z nation is an alternative and only required a portion of that fan base to be successful. Too bad it kinda sucksbut you get my point. If a portion wanders over just out of interest in the alternative, they'll be more successful over here.

I mean yes. TWD vs Z Nation is exactly the comparison to make right now. But Z Nation is never, ever, ever going to be a competitor to TWD. It's an alternative, a similar show to watch if you like that kind of thing, but not a competitor taking viewers away. The past year or so, NJPW people, and now Mark Cuban, have portrayed NJPW as a COMPETITOR, particularly in the US, which it is not and will never be.

 

[Rack4K]

Crazy to actually hear Cuban talk about wrestling in the context of shows and companies competing with each other. That’s interesting. Hope it’s a sign of things to come.

 

[c2daj]

Mark Cuban could very well be that billionaire mogul we've all been waiting for to invest in another promotion and challenge Vince
This needs to happen asap. Imagine Mark buying ROH and having some type of partnership deal with NJPW

 

[Breh Obama]

Cuban is very finicky when it comes to investing. He must have really saw some true potential for growth with NJPW

 

[TheGreatShowtime]

Cuban needs to take down Trump before Cokeboy