Kazuchika Okada may be about to become a free agent.
Former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada is truly among the greats. The 38-year-old defined New Japan Pro Wrestling throughout the 2010s and has an astonishing eight main event matches at the Tokyo Dome under his belt to this point, however doubt has now been cast over his future with the company he has been with for over 15 years.
Per Sports Illustrated, it’s been reported that Okada’s current NJPW contract expires at the end of January, with the star ‘seriously entertaining’ the possibility of wrestling elsewhere.
“Kazuchika Okada is about to become a free agent, Sports Illustrated has learned. The face of New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Okada’s current contract expires at the end of January. While a new deal with New Japan would typically be underway, Okada, 36, is seriously entertaining the possibility of wrestling for a different promotion.”
-Sports Illustrated
Looking ahead to his upcoming New Japan commitments, Kazuchika is set to wrestle AEW’s Bryan Danielson at WrestleKingdom 18 and has made a recent appearance on Dynamite to build up to the clash. Of course, All Elite Wrestling remains a strong option for the Japanese legend should he choose to depart NJPW in the near future.
Beyond that, there is always the possibility that he could complete a surprise move to WWE, with it previously reported by Dave Meltzer that they had re-ignited interest in Okada. It was also noted that WWE had been positioning Shinsuke Nakamura strongly in recent weeks in order to show the NJPW legend that Japanese talent will be treated fairly under the regime of Triple H.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on Kazuchika Okada’s NJPW status as we hear more.
