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A former WWE personality has shared some scathing observations regarding recent AEW signee Kazuchika Okada. The individual in question is Jim Cornette.
The Rainmaker sent shockwaves through the wrestling world when he officially joined the AEW roster on the March 6, 2024, episode of Dynamite and allied himself with The Young Bucks as the newest member of The Elite. Okada wasted little time to taste gold and defeated Eddie Kingston two weeks later for the Continental Championship.
The Ferrari of Pro Wrestling had his first successful title defense this past Sunday on Dynasty 2024, where he beat former AEW International Champion PAC in a hard-hitting matchup. Despite being regarded as one of the best active wrestlers in the world currently, Okada has his share of critics, including Jim Cornette.
Speaking on a recent episode of the Jim Cornette Experience podcast, the former booker and promoter criticized Okada. Comparing him to Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, Cornette panned the Tony Khan-led promotion for spending time and resources on the former IWGP Heavyweight Champion.
He also shared his view on another of the promotion's major 2024 signings, Mercedes Mone.
"O-Cody [Cornette's pun on Okada's name] is a complete waste of time... He's a complete waste of time and resources, and Mercedes, I don't believe, has proven herself to be that good." [9:00 - 9:23]
Jim Cornette prefers Konosuke Takeshita's work in AEW over Okada's
In the same podcast, Cornette was asked to compare Okada with his AEW colleague Konosuke Takeshita. The Japanese Phenomenon made several appearances in the promotion in 2021 and 2022. It competed against top stars, including Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli, before officially signing on as All Elite in November 2022.
Takeshita is currently a member of the Don Callis Family and faced off against Will Ospreay and Swerve Strickland last month. More recently, he lost a Bunkhouse Brawl alongside teammate Kyle Fletcher against Claudio Castagnoli and Bryan Danielson of the BCC.
While speaking on the Jim Cornette Experience, Cornette praised Takeshita, calling him a superior worker to Kazuchika Okada and suggesting that AEW should focus on producing and building the former DDT Ironman Heavyweight Champion.
"Oh, Takeshita. And I'll even pronounce him right for that. No, it's not even close. And with Takeshita, you can make him from scratch, and he doesn't feel like a star that ought to be getting special treatment. You can tell him what to do and produce him if you know what you're doing. And he's bigger, and he's better looking, he's younger, he's got a better body and his work looks better. He's trying harder. So yeah, I think they ought to give him f****** O-Cody's [Okada's] money." [11:45 - `12:17]
It remains to be seen how Konosuke Takeshita is booked moving forward in AEW.
Thoughts on Kazuchika Okada's booking so far?
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit the Jim Cornette Experience and add H/T to Sportskeeda for the transcription.
