New Japan Pro Wrestling Gets American TV Deal

In what seems to be a well-timed move, New Japan Pro Wrestling has reached a television deal with AXS TV to begin airing programming in 2015.

The agreement was announced somewhat unceremoniously in a highlight package previewing AXS TV's 2015 lineup. The show will kick off Friday, January 16, at 9 pm. With Smackdown moving to Thursday nights, this leaves Friday open.

Details surrounding the deal are still filtering in, but initially it seems that the program will feature content from 2013 and 2014, per Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio. This will follow NJPW's foray into American pay-per-view in January, as they'll co-promote with Jeff Jarrett's Global Force Wrestling.

Former UFC Heavyweight champion Josh Barnett and Mauro Ranallo will be handling commentary duties for the program. Barnett has performed as a pro wrestler for both IGF and NJPW in the past. The two will record audio for the series next week.

AXS TV previously aired Ring of Honor when the channel was known as HDNet. The owner of the station, Mark Cuban, appeared as a guest host of Monday Night Raw in 2009, and also in a cameo at Survivor Series 2003.

Bruce Fernandes contributed to this article.