For the first time in several years, Kazuchika Okada will not be headlining NJPW’s Wrestle Kingdom event.
Instead, Okada has a featured matchup against former CHAOS stablemate and former friend Will Ospreay. It is a match that Okada is relishing, and one he spoke at length to Sports Illustrated with, but he talked about far more than that.
Okada has spoken a lot over the last year about changing professional wrestling, about working to make it more unique and exciting in different ways especially as New Japan looks to expand into America and other markets. With the COVID-19 pandemic making it hard to support companies, Okada has recognized that many fans have remained loyal to New Japan through a difficult time and he wants to find ways to give back to them.
In the interview, Okada expressed the idea to have a huge supershow with talents from all across professional wrestling. Not just New Japan partners CMLL and Ring of Honor, but all across the world. NJPW, AEW, CMLL, AAA, IMPACT Wrestling, Ring of Honor, and even the WWE.
“Times are tough right now, but I hope what we do will bring joy to everyone all over the world, and give them enough strength and positivity to do their best the next day. And when the world calms down, I would like to give back with other wrestling companies to all wrestling fans in the world who still support us even in this current situation.” “New Japan, WWE, AEW, CMLL, AAA all together. Sounds pretty cool, don’t you think?”
The recent partnership with AEW and Impact Wrestling has opened up a lot of ideas for dream matches and hopes, and with former executive Harold Meji departing New Japan, many thing it is only a matter of time before New Japan and AEW build a partnership of their own. While we may never get the supershow Okada dreams of, the pieces are in place that some of these dreams no longer seem too tall for reality. Hopefully, for Okada’s sake, Wrestle Kingdom 15 won’t be just a dream.
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