WWE Makes Waves with Major Television Agreement in Japan

WWE is a global product, and there are fans all around the world who want to see pro wrestling. Some of those fans in Japan will have to tune into a different channel if they want to catch the action.

According to Tokyo Sports, WWE SmackDown and WWE Raw will air on ABEMA in Japan starting on October 3rd. This will be a big deal for Japanese fans, and it may bring WWE to even more eyes overseas.

WWE Raw is scheduled for Tuesday nights at 8 p.m., while WWE SmackDown will air on Saturdays at 8 p.m. These broadcasts will be in Japanese and available for free.

WWE Premium Live Events will also be shown on ABEMA, replacing its previous airing on J-Sports in Japan.

WWE Hall of Famer The Great Muta will serve as an ambassador for a special broadcast set to air on September 29th. Muta was present at WWE Payback, where he sat ringside during Shinsuke Nakamura’s challenge against Seth Rollins for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

We will have to see how this turns out for WWE. The company has tried to grab a foothold in Japan for a long time. Perhaps this is the first step to making that happen, as they still haven’t given up a long-term goal of having a Performance Center in Japan.

What’s your take on WWE’s move in Japan? Sound off in the comments to let us know what you think!