WWE Announces Return To Japan

WWE has announced its return to Japan.

In recent years WWE has made a noticeable push to make itself more international, taking an increasing number of shows outside of North America.

It’s now been announced the company will be heading to Japan in July, to run its first live events in the country since June 2019. Cody Rhodes, Shinsuke Nakamura, Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley, IYO SKY, and the Kabuki Warriors have been confirmed for the tour.

In an interesting piece of trivia, Triple H’s last-ever match took place on that tour in 2019 when The Game teamed with Nakamura to beat Robert Roode & Samoa Joe in Tokyo on June 29th.

You can find the full press release from WWE below.

STAMFORD, Conn., May 21, 2024 – WWE, part of TKO Group Holdings, today announced a long-awaited return to Japan with three live shows this July. The first show will take place at the Edion Arena in Osaka on Thursday, July 25. WWE Superstars will then return to perform in Tokyo for the first time since 2019, with back-to-back shows at the Ryogoku Arena on Friday, July 26, and Saturday, July 27.

These events will mark WWE’s first return to Tokyo in five years, and the first return to Osaka in six years. WWE has a rich history of live events in Japan dating back to 1994.

Fans attending the WWE Supershow Summer Tour will see their favorite WWE Superstars in action including “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes, Shinsuke Nakamura, Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley, IYO SKY, The Kabuki Warriors, and many more*.

Tickets will be available at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 1, 2024 from E-Plus, Lawson Ticket, Ticket Pia and Kyodo Tokyo. Fans interested in an exclusive presale can visit https://eplus.jp/wwe/ for more information on signing up.

WWE Eyeing Transformative Change To Raw And SmackDown

Meanwhile, it’s been reported that WWE is looking to start charging cities to host Raw and SmackDown. The company already receives site fees for WrestleMania, the Royal Rumble, and SummerSlam, while it’s also working on deals for Money In The Bank and Survivor Series.

Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer suggested the prospective move would be “transformative.”

And it’s a great business to be in, it takes away all the risk of running shows if you’re getting paid to come in, that’s for sure.

They’re giving you the building for free, and you’re gonna get paid to come in, and you’re gonna get other benefits from the city – promotional and everything like that, they’ll help you promote your event because it’s incumbent on them for the event to be a success because the whole idea of spending that money is to bring people into the city and come to restaurants and stay at hotels and all that. We’ll see if they can pull that off. If they do, that’s transformative.

WWE will return to Saudi Arabia for SmackDown on May 24th and King & Queen of the Ring on May 25th.