The race to sign ‘The Rainmaker’ is heating up.
On January 19th, New Japan Pro Wrestling made the shocking announcement that former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada would be leaving the promotion at the expiration of his contract on January 31st. With the date now February 1st, Okada now finds himself as a free agent, and thus its no surprise to see both AEW and WWE battling it out for his signature.
On the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer revealed that AEW’s offer to Okada is currently higher than WWE’s financially, with WWE banking on Okada’s sights being set on becoming a household name.
“The impression I got is AEW has the higher offer, and WWE is going with the idea that if Okada wants to come to WWE, he’ll come to WWE. Basically it depends on what Okada’s goal is right now in life. If his goal is to have the most worldwide exposure at this point in his career, then WWE is the place to go. To build up a name, WWE’s the place to go. To make the most money possible, AEW’s the place to go. If it’s to have the best matches possible, AEW’s the place to go. If it’s to have the best schedule, AEW’s the place to go. It’s whatever he wants.”
-Dave Meltzer
Okada is set to face NJPW President Hiroshi Tanahashi on February 11th, with his final appearances for the promotion announced for February 23rd and 24th, although his opponents are yet to be revealed.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on the future of Kazuchika Okada as soon as we hear more.
