WWE's Performance Center expansion could be reaching Japan at some point this year.
According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, the announcement of a Performance Center in Japan is expected to be made in the next few months, perhaps summer of if everything goes as expected. The report also mentioned that WWE had reached out to Sen. Hiroshi Hase and Antonio Inoki about the political situation, though no further details were revealed or the specifics of those conversations.
According to the report, the original thought was for WWE to work with Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling NOAH, but NOAH was sold to Cyberagent last month. CyberAgent already owns the Dramatic Dream Team (DDT) promotion.
WWE first expanded the NXT brand to the United Kingdom with NXT UK, which softly launched in December 2016 with the announcement of the WWE United Kingdom Title tournament. In October 2018, NXT UK became a weekly television program on WWE Network. Along with the NXT UK brand, WWE established a Performance Center at the Great Cambridge Industrial Estate in Enfield, London in January 2019.
WWE has also looked towards other countries in regards to having tryouts in recent years. WWE has traveled to places such as India, Chile, Germany and Saudi Arabia. Fightful will keep you updated on the situation regarding a Performance Center in Japan.
