Kazuchika Okada, the IWGP world champion and New Japan Pro Wrestling’s top star recently spoke to ‘rolling stone’ magazine and addressed rumours of him joining WWE by saying –
"I like doing the shows with Ring of Honor, but I don't want to leave Japan. I'm not interested in WWE at all. Many people ask me about WWE, and if I'd go to WWE in the future. They ask me if I'm going now. I will not go. I want to make New Japan Pro-Wrestling bigger. That's my future."
It’s not surprising that Okada’s opinion about the United States is spoilt as he was given a sidekick to Samoa Joe role in TNA where he didn’t even get to wrestle under the name ‘Okato’.
Okada noted the New Japan/Ring of Honor relationship, which has blossomed this year. The two agreed to promote joint shows in both the United States and Japan for 2016, and the relationship has already seen Okada make several trips to America to perform.
He sees this as a stark contrast to his time in TNA, where he says they limited him, adding that: "I didn't get to wrestle at all in TNA. I wanted to wrestle, and they wouldn't let me. Here, I can wrestle against great wrestlers,"
It is refreshing to see some loyalty as Japanese wrestlers attempt to restore Japanese wrestling to its former glory. With the likes of AJ Styles, Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson and Shinsuke Nakamura moving away from NJPW and to WWE, it is great news for NJPW that ‘the rainmaker’ Okada is staying with the promotion.
