WWE Rumor Mill: WWE and Pro Wrestling NOAH enter working relationship

What's the story?

The latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter from Dave Meltzer indicated the, quite frankly, huge news that WWE is embarking on a working relationship with a Japanese company for the first time in decades, as it forges a partnership with Pro Wrestling NOAH

In case you didn't know...

Before he was Hideo Itami, he was KENTA and he was Pro Wrestling NOAH's top star. He made several appearances for NOAH, and Ring of Honor and won a multitude of championships before he was scouted by WWE and signed to NXT.

The heart of the matter?

It is reported that the first obvious sign of this new relationship between WWE and Japanese company Pro Wrestling NOAH is Itami will be given a homecoming of sorts, being allowed to make an appearance for the promotion where he rose to prominence on 29th August. Here's what Dave Meltzer said in the newsletter.

WWE has made a working agreement, at least at this point, with Pro Wrestling NOAH. Not sure what it entails, but it is notable being the first time in decades that the company has worked with a Japanese promotion. Right now the first thing with the deal is Itami returning to NOAH for an 8/29 show

What's next?

This seems to be the next step in WWE's attempts to expand their wrestling shows to become a more global thing, they've just announced an NXT UK brand with a singles, tag and women's division and a general manager in British wrestling legend Johnny Saint. This seems to be the start of similar attempts in Japan.

WWE has working relationships with several British independent wrestling promotions like Progress and ICW. It was expected that eventually shows from these promotions would be available on the WWE Network. It's possible that part of this new working agreement will mean that more NOAH stars appear for WWE, and that NOAH shows will be available on the network.