A chat with Takagi ahead of Wrestle Peter Pan.
There was a new interview uploaded to Tokyo Sports’ website with DDT Pro-Wrestling President and now-former CyberFight President, Sanshiro Takagi.
Coming up on July 21st, Takagi will be in action at Wrestle Peter Pan. After that, he’ll be taking a break from in-ring action. He shared that he’s experienced symptoms of heart issues that was surgically resolved in 2020.
I was reaching my limits in many areas, and although I had not had any symptoms since my surgery for an irregular heartbeat in February 2020, they began to appear at the end of last year and into this year, with heart palpitations and shortness of breath. The doctor told me that I needed to take a break immediately… My physical condition was a big problem, and DDT had no successor, so I needed to bring one up as soon as possible.
Yasou Okamoto took over as President and Representative Director of CyberFight. With him assuming that role, Takagi is just managing DDT and he remains on the CyberFight Board of Directors.
When asked about a potential successor to him as DDT President, he named CyberFight Director Akito Nishigaki.
For DDT, it would have to be Akito (Nishigaki). He was the driving force behind the growth of DDT’s merchandise sales. Merchandise sales now account for a large portion of DDT’s sales. It used to be only about 10 percent of the box office sales, but now it is 30-40 percent. Even for big matches at Ryogoku Kokugikan, it is about 52 percent. 60-70 percent of DDT’s fans are female, and this demographic purchases the merchandise.
DDT hosted a street car match between Takagi and Minoru Suzuki in late June. The likes of Meiko Satomura, Jushin Thunder Liger and the Governor of Tokyo appeared.
