AJPW Announces Exclusive Deal with Amazon Prime Video Japan
All Japan Pro Wrestling made a bold statement in its battle to wrestle away eyes from competitors. Hot off the heels of the Kento Miyahara and Yuma Aoyagi’s Real World Tag League tournament championship, AJPW announced a deal to stream its event through Amazon Prime Video Japan. AJPW stars Miyahara, Yuma Aoyagi, Jake Lee, and current Triple Crown champion Suwama attended a press conference yesterday to announce the deal.
The service, called “All Japan Video Delivery,” is set to launch from December 7. The show will air events exclusively on the new OTT service, which is right right now only available to residents living in Japan. The channel costs a monthly fee of 980 yen, or $9.41 in USD as of this writing, with rental purchases available for 480 yen, or roughly five American dollars.
Former AJPW wrestler KENSO, better known to mid-aughts WWE fans as Kenzo Suzuki, will serve as producer. Additionally, Kenji Wakabayashi, former NTV announcer for Baba-era All Japan television throughout the ’80s and ’90s, has been tapped for the new Amazon Prime project going forward.
“I don’t like Naoya Ogawa here. I don’t like it. I’m not convinced.”
During the press conference, Olympic silver medalist and world class judoka Naoya Ogawa appeared, his signature indignance still in tact. The former IWGP and NWA champion will provide commentary on the All Japan Video Delivery events.
“What did you come to, All Japan Wrestling? If you want to have a match, you can do it now.” Triple Crown champion Suwama was not pleased with Ogawa showing up, his first appearance with the company in close to 20 years. After the champion spoke his mind, the two had a stare-down, which erupted soon after when Ogawa threw a chair at Suwama. Shuji Ishikawa dragged his Violent Giants tag team partner out of the press conference before the two could come to blows. Expect the Suwama to face the famed Ogawa at some point in the future.
The conference ended with ace player Miyahara thanking the press for coming.
We will have more on this story as it develops over the next few weeks.
