Draft:Michael Craven
| Submission declined on 30 September 2025 by Bearcat (talk). This submission's references do not show that the subject qualifies for a Wikipedia article—that is, they do not show significant coverage (not just passing mentions) about the subject in published, reliable, secondary sources that are independent of the subject (see the guidelines on the notability of people). Before any resubmission, additional references meeting these criteria should be added (see technical help and learn about mistakes to avoid when addressing this issue). If no additional references exist, the subject is not suitable for Wikipedia.
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| Submission declined on 25 September 2025 by Pythoncoder (talk). Your draft shows signs of having been generated by a large language model, such as ChatGPT. Their outputs usually have multiple issues that prevent them from meeting our guidelines on writing articles. These include: Declined by Pythoncoder 5 days ago.
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Comment: This is depending too heavily on primary sources (podcast interview in which he's talking about himself) and unreliable sports blogs that don't count toward passage of WP:GNG -- and the footnotes that do come from GNG-worthy media outlets aren't about Michael Craven, but just passingly mention his name in the process of being about the league, which is not the kind of "coverage" we need to see. He needs to be the subject of a source, not just a name mentioned in a source whose primary subject is something else, for that source to count toward establishing notability. Bearcat (talk) 15:48, 30 September 2025 (UTC)
Michael Shawn Craven (born January 7, 1974) is a Canadian[1] sports executive in Japanese professional wrestling and mixed martial arts.
Early life
[edit]Craven was born in Richmond, British Columbia. He developed an early interest in Japanese pro-wrestling and spent more than fifteen years in negotiation roles related to Japan government prior to entering the sports industry.[1]
New Japan Pro-Wrestling
[edit]In 2018, Craven became the first native English-speaking General Manager of the International Division at New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW).[2][3] During 2019, he was responsible for organizing major NJPW events in three countries within the same year. The United States, United Kingdom, and Australia; a first in the history of Japanese combat sports promotions.[4][5]
Some events he managed included:
- The April 2019 joint NJPW/Ring of Honor event at Madison Square Garden.[6]
- NJPW’s “Royal Quest” in London’s Copper Box Arena, New Japan Pro Wrestling’s first major UK show.[6]
- The “Southern Showdown” tour in Australia.[4]
Craven left NJPW in 2021 to care for his terminally ill wife.[7]
Transition to MMA
[edit]In March 2025, Craven became an executive at RIZIN Fighting Federation, making him the first foreigner to move from a top professional wrestling management position in Japan directly to a senior role in a major Japanese MMA promotion.[7][8]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "NJPW Official English Podcast, Episode 1". njpw1972.com.
- ^ "The spirit of a warrior: Toa Henare, Kiwi pro-wrestler". Tea On News. November 1, 2018. Retrieved September 29, 2025.
- ^ "NJPW GM Speaks On AEW Relationship, ROH Partnership, And More". 411mania. June 7, 2019. Retrieved September 29, 2025.
- ^ a b "New Japan Pro Wrestling's Southern Showdown: Michael Craven on Australian wrestling future, local events and G1 Climax 2020 plans". Fox Sports Australia. June 29, 2019.
- ^ "New Japan Pro Wrestling heading to the UK..." The Mirror. March 12, 2019. Retrieved 2025-09-29.
- ^ a b "NJPW's Relationship With AEW All About the Talent: Michael Craven". Sports Illustrated. June 3, 2019.
- ^ a b "Michael Craven joins RIZIN Fighting Federation". Undisputed (Justin Barrasso). March 22, 2025.
- ^ "Former NJPW GM Michael Craven Joins RIZIN Fighting Federation". Fightful. March 25, 2025.