NJPW News: Kazuchika Okada opens up about Kenny Omega, his top three wrestlers in the world and more
What’s the story?
During a recent interview with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, current IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada discussed his upcoming showdown against Kenny Omega at this year’s NJPW: Dominion 6.9 pay-per-view.
In case you didn’t know…
Following Kazuchika Okada’s 12th successful title defense against Hiroshi Tanahashi at NJPW: Wrestling Dontaku, ‘The Rainmaker’ subsequently went on to challenge ‘The Cleaner’ Kenny Omega to a match at this year’s Dominion PPV.
Omega and Okada have previously squared-off against each other on three different occasions with both men currently standing at a record of 1-1.
The heart of the matter
While speaking with Sports Illustrated, IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada opened up on a host of topics and below are a few highlights from his interview:
Kenny Omega as an opponent:
According to Okada, he feels that his forthcoming title challenger Kenny Omega is definitely a tough, strong, and an awesome competitor who currently has an extraordinary amount of worldwide fan following thanks to the power of NJPW World.
Kenny is tough, he’s strong, he’s awesome; I think all those things are pretty obvious. The thing with him is that with the power of NJPW World, he’s been able to get such a following worldwide. The whole world has their hopes pinned on him and that’s a definite X-factor.
His top three wrestlers in the world today:
The current NJPW roster is absolutely stacked with some outstanding talent representing both the Heavyweight and Junior Heavyweight Division and in Okada’s mind, he feels that the top three wrestlers in today’s Pro Wrestling industry are non-other than Kenny Omega, Tetsuya Naito, and Okada’s CHAOS stablemate and current IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion, Will Ospreay.
Kenny, [Tetsuya] Naito, and [Will] Ospreay. Aside from myself, those three are what makes NJPW the best promotion in the world.
His goal in Professional Wrestling:
When asked about his current goal in the Pro Wrestling industry, Okada responded by stating that his current goal is to make sure that he crosses the finish line, which is to eventually lose interest in wrestling. But until then, Okada is pretty determined to keep going the way he has been.
What’s next?
Kazuchika Okada and Kenny Omega will square-off on the 9th of June at the Osaka-jo Hall with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship on the line. Who do you think will win come out on top? Have your say in the comments.