NJPW File Copyright Strike Against Themselves

This time, the copyright strike came from inside the building.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling are infamous for issuing copyright strikes on YouTube, even taking down videos from content creators when still images are in use as opposed to fully-fledged video footage. Videos of NJPW content shared on X (FKA Twitter) are also often taken down by copyright strikes from the promotion.

New Japan haven't taken down any old YouTube content creator or X user this time, though. NJPW have filed a copyright claim against the promotion's own YouTube channel.

KAIRI vs. Mercedes Moné for the IWGP Women's Championship was uploaded to the NJPW YouTube channel in recent months, making it available for fans to watch for free. The promotion decided to promote the free content on Tuesday night with an X post but anyone hoping to watch the match was unable to do so, simply being greeted with the message: "Video unavailable: This video contains content from NJPW, who has blocked it on copyright grounds."

The tweet promoting the match and the YouTube video have both since been deleted.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling will hold their biggest show of the year, Wrestle Kingdom 18, on January 4. The promotion unveiled new championship belts ahead of the event.