AEW have their eyes on the former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion.
On January 8th, New Japan Pro Wrestling made the shocking announcement that Kazuchika Okada would be leaving the company at the expiration of his contract at the end of the month. Okada is still set to compete for NJPW until February 24th, but with ‘The Rainmaker’ about to become a free agent, the wrestling world can’t stop talking about where he’ll land next.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter is now reporting that the belief on the AEW side is that he’ll be starting with them soon, although it was also noted that the most recent update on the situation suggests the 36-year-old is still undecided.
“For Okada, the last word was that he had not made up his mind. I know people here range from hopeful to I’d perceive as confident he will be coming. If he was to sign, the likely arrival would be around the Greensboro show with his final New Japan date on 2/24.”
-WON
Okada successfully defended the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Titles alongside Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tomohiro Ishii against TMDK’s Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls, and Kosei Fujita on January 24th at Korakuen Hall, in what looks set to have been his final bout whilst still under contract.
AEW are unlikely to have a free run at Kazuchika Okada, as multiple reports have indicated that WWE are also interested in signing him.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on the future of Kazuchika Okada as soon as we hear more.
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