NJPW Chairman Naoki Sugabayashi Reveals COVID-19 & Live Event Stats

By Kellie Haulotte

During the Wrestle Kingdom 15 press conference NJPW Chairman Naoki Sugabayashi revealed stats for NJPW's Live events during the current coronavirus pandemic.

He revealed that since July 11, 2020, NJPW has staged 54 live events and they have had zero COVID-19 cases. The combined crowd for those events is 72,706.

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Below is Sugabayashi's statement, as translated on NJPW's English site:

"We had planned to announce some of the card for Varsan presents Wrestle Kingdom 15 here today, but we would like to take the results of the past 24 hours into careful consideration and make an announcement at a later time. I would also like to deliver the following information.

Since July 11 2020, New Japan Pro-Wrestling has staged 54 live events in front of a combined paying crowd of 72,706. Thanks to our guidelines and the efforts of our fans to adhere to them, we have had zero COVID-19 cases arising as a result of any of our live events. For adhering to masks, temperature checks, and using applause in place of raised voices, I want to once again deeply thank our fans, and our staff members and wrestlers for their part in acting as representatives.

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We understand the importance and power of professional wrestling in times such as these more than ever, and will continue to follow our COVID-19 policy, developed in close parallel with advice from the government's sporting authority, in bringing live events including Wrestle Kingdom 15, across Japan. We can be doing everything within our power to welcome you warmly and safely to NJPW events."

IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champion Tetsuya Naito also challenged Kota Ibushi to a match at Wrestle Kingdom 15 during the recent press conference.

As noted earlier this week, Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay is set for Wrestle Kingdom 15.

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