Report: WWE Will Be Returning To Sumo Hall In Tokyo, Japan This July
World Wrestling Entertainment will once again be returning to Japan this year.
As you may remember, WWE held a live event at Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan last year on July 4. The show was titled Beast in the East and featured Brock Lesnar, John Cena and a singles match between Finn Balor and Kevin Owens for the NXT Championship. The show was a success and since WWE left Japan happy with their experience, they decided to do it again!
This year WWE will be holding two live events at Sumo Hall on July 1 and July 2, according to PWInsider. Tickets will be going on sale for the events on April 16.
There is currently no news as to whether or not these events will be streamed on the WWE Network, but I can’t imagine they wouldn’t. An official statement regarding the WWE’s next trip to “The Land of the Rising Sun” is expected to be made soon.
Mark’s reaction: This is great news as I was hoping WWE would do another show at Sumo Hall in Japan this summer. As mentioned above, with the success of last year’s event, I can’t imagine they wouldn’t stream it on the network.
What’s interesting to me is that there are two WWE live events happening on back to back days. Instead of having an NXT match on the main roster’s show, maybe WWE is planning on having one of those days dedicated to NXT. Reason being, the WWE’s main roster can of course sell itself in Japan. However, NXT can definitely sell a good amount of tickets if they advertise the event as Shinsuke Nakamura’s return to Japan and feature Finn Balor and his former Bullet Club members Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows. Hopefully Hideo Itami will be healthy by then too and can compete as well.
I know I’m getting greedy now, but I would also love it if WWE and NJPW did a little cross-promoting and featured one of NJPW’s stars on the show. Preferably, Kazuchika Okada. WWE has shown us that they can do this sort of thing, as they featured Jushin Thunder Liger on the NXT Takeover: Brooklyn show last summer. They’re already in Japan, why not? I think it would be a cool moment for the Japanese audience, as well as those who are fans of Okada like myself. (Note from John: Doubt they can get Okada. He’ll likely have a different deal than Liger. Wishful thinking, though!)
Do you think WWE will be streaming their upcoming trip to Japan on the WWE Network? If so, are you looking forward to the event? Did you enjoy last year’s? Leave any of your thoughts in the comment section below.