36-year-old Kazuchika Okada is considered one of the greatest wrestlers in the world at present and is the jewel in New Japan’s crown. However, his long-term future may not be with the Japanese promotion because Dave Meltzer has now reported in the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE has renewed interest in recruiting the star who competed for AEW as recently as last month.
“Obviously they’ve had interest in him for years. But he’s always been loyal to New Japan. The pitch is that he’s now 36 and he’s close with Nakamura and Nakamura has worked years in WWE and it’s far easier on his body. The idea is that WWE is the one thing Okada has never done and he’s done everything he can do in New Japan. One person who buzzed us about the renewed interest in Okada said that one of the reasons Nakamura is getting a renewed push is to show Okada that this regime is not going to treat Japanese like the stereotypical children-like role,”
Dave MeltzerWhile respected in Japan, Okada wasn’t highly regarded by some fans in the United States until he began working with AEW. This is because he had a very ill-fated run with TNA between 2010 and 2011, where he competed under the name Okato with a gimmick inspired by Kato from The Green Hornet. This use of him was cited as one of the reasons New Japan ended its working relationship with TNA. Still, it should be noted that he credits his time working for the promotion with teaching him about character, which led to him becoming the Rainmaker upon his return to New Japan.
