



Along with the different in-ring style and programming format, something that always stands out to new New Japan Pro Wrestling viewers is the much more liberal use of English-language profanity than in prominent North American wrestling promotions. But according to an official statement from NJPW president Harold Meij on the promotion’s Japanese-language website, that’s about to change.

Here’s how Meij explained the new guidelines (with translation via Google Translate):

New Japan Wrestling is about to change now. Even if you do not want to change it’s coming to a stage (scale) you have to change. It is a story of moral rather than a story of the content of the game.



If you would like to show pro-wrestling only to Japanese customers only in the Japanese market I think that it was not a problem often… However, now that it has become possible to see New Japan Wrestling from all over the world, there are things that can be regarded as a problem if it is from overseas. For example, setting up a middle finger or emitting a broadcast-prohibited word by live broadcast is absolutely out of rule on broadcasting and ethics from overseas, even if it is not a pin for a Japanese customer. Although customer’s acceptance may be totally different in Japan and overseas, in any case, players and stakeholders should take discriminatory actions as organizers even outside the ring and professionally.

Meij also addressed the relationship between wrestlers and the audience at NJPW shows, and how that may be more controlled in the future.

Not only in the situation of overseas expansion but also in Japan alone there is a change in social ethics and social ethics that “it was quite natural in the past, but now is not allowed”. Wrestling logic called “He is a [heel]” sometimes does not pass through rules of society in general. If you continue to overlook it will be a big problem by a chance and it will take away not only players of the problem but also players of many players.



Because we strive for fun to watch your pro-wrestling, the history of Shin Nippon Pro Wrestling, the staff who are doing best and the lives of their families… If inappropriate behavior is corrected, we correct it, but there is no change in wishing for the success of each player.



Also, although it will be a different story from the actions of the athletes, we will deal with firmly in the future for customers with poor watching manners. We sincerely apologize to customers who were uncomfortable at some venues.

This statement seems to address an incident in which Tama Tonga confronted a heckler in the audience at a recent G1 show.

This incident was received very differently by Western and Japanese wrestling fans, with Japanese fans mostly praising Tonga’s actions (a recent Super J-Cast episode talks about the cultural context of this, connecting it to the Japanese saying that “the nail that sticks out gets hammered down”) while some Western fans on social media called for him to be punished or fired. Meij’s statement implies there are ways in which wrestlers are not allowed to interact with the fans, but also that fans who cause problems will be dealt with by NJPW staff in the future.

#G128 Today Meij-san posted article on NJPW’s Japanese website addressing recent events. Perhaps official English version coming shortly, but can’t see it as yet. One of my bestest NJPW buddies who wishes to remain anon (she knows who she is) kindly summarized in English! pic.twitter.com/tnfaINmISs — Fraser Marriott (@fraserjapan) August 8, 2018

Now that the uncensored (in English) days of NJPW seem to be over, let’s take a look at some of their memorable non-PG moments! I apologize in advance for not including the any of the many instances of profanity from booker Gedo and his tag partner Jado, who used to have a t-shirt that said “F*ck You We Are Jadoh & Gedoh” when they worked for FMW.