What’s the story?
New Japan Pro Wrestling came to the USA this weekend for the G1 Special in USA, but the IWGP Heavyweight Champion was spotted at another promotion.
Kazuchika Okada was spotted backstage tonight at Monday Night Raw and was spotted by a fan.
In case you didn’t know...
Okada is one of NJPW’s biggest stars and has been a prominent star in the promotion since his return in 2010. He captured his first IWGP Heavyweight Championship by defeating Hiroshi Tanahashi at The New Beginning 2012 and would go on to hold the belt three more times and is currently approaching 400 days with the championship.
The heart of the matter
The sighting of Okada backstage at Monday Night Raw has caused many fans to speculate whether it means the WWE is showing interest in bringing in one of NJPW’s biggest stars.
Okada has been on the radar of many wrestling fans following his series of matches with Kenny Omega for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Many fans have heralded these matches as the greatest of all time and Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter rated both matches with 6 out of 5 stars.
What’s next?
While it is interesting that one of NJPW’s hottest stars paid WWE a visit, the fact remains that this has happened before. Wrestling News.co reported that he was a guest at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn and SummerSlam the following day. Many fans believe it is mostly due to Okada’s friendship with Hideo Itami and Shinsuke Nakamura.
NJPW is rumoured to want Okada on a multi-year deal in the promotion and is also making between $1.7 to $2.2 million per year. There is a very strong chance that this was just a spur of the moment appearance since Okada was in town.
Author’s take
Okada is NJPW’s biggest star and it’s unlikely that he’ll be leaving the promotion ever soon. If he ever does come to the WWE, the fans will be in store for some great matches.
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