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Rocky Romero On Conversation Between NJPW/WWE, AEW Work, Fixing Forbidden Doors

Added 2022-07-28 17:00:06 +0000 UTC

Fightful spoke to Rocky Romero ahead of NJPW Music City Mayhem on July 30, and he had some interesting notes.

He said he's spoken to Nick Khan one time, and it was regarding the potential of NJPW being added to WWE Network or the tape library. He said that the conversation was a short one, and while he didn't say it himself, we've long been told NJPW's side of things rejected the offer.

He had a goal coming out of the pandemic to work with as many companies as possible and to be the goodwill ambassador for New Japan. He specifically wanted to do that do help open doors for Young Lions and dojo guys in NJPW, and give them additional places to work. Along the way, NJPW Strong ended up being firmly established several years ahead of the internal timetable that New Japan had set. Re-establishing a relationship with IMPACT was important, and credited Scott D'Amore for helping that along. He says he wishes he was more involved when AXS (and IMPACT parent company Anthem) canceled NJPW, as he thinks maybe they could have preserved the relationship.

He believes that WWE working with NJPW is more of a possibility than it is before, but doesn't expect it happen immediately. He said he could see them forging a relationship down the line, but they have a lot they need to get in order first.

He discussed the process of working with AEW. He said that he and Tony will talk, then he'll go back to NJPW in an effort to clear it, serving as an intermediary. He works closer with Tony Khan on the booking side of the NJPW talent and spoke very highly of the experience working with Tony Khan, saying he was very easy to work with.

We also asked Romero his thoughts on the MJF-AEW situation. He understands both end of things, wanting a bump in pay when you strike gold and knowing that staying hot until your contract is up can be difficult. He also understand's AEW's side of things after investing in MJF early and long term.

We request that you wait until the full interview is released before aggregating, so you can have the full context of Romero's words.