The pandemic era has been extremely difficult for New Japan Pro Wrestling.
This is further proved by a report by Wrestling Observer Newsletter in which it was said that the total attendance of the company has been at the lowest since the 1970s (Inoki founded NJPW in 1972).
Mostly due to the COVID-19 limitations, NJPW ran 157 shows for a total of 183,541 spectators, which still largely puts them in first place in Japan but sees other companies like Dragon Gate and sister joshi promotion Stardom getting much closer than expected.
In 2019, NJPW drew over 400,000 in combined attendance while last year the number was 223,903.
Many fans also felt like the booking has reached a stalling point, also due to many injuries suffered by top stars (Hiromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito, Kota Ibushi and Will Ospreay all needed time off in 2021) as well as other performers like Ospreay himself, Juice Robinson and Jay White remaining in America. Other decisions such as the creation of the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship and EVIL’s heel turn and push also drew negative comments.
