Kazuchika Okada Doesn’t Think He Has Much Time Left In Career, Wants To Further NJPW Globalization

Kazuchika Okada wants to exceed Antonio Inoki’s efforts in bringing New Japan Pro-Wrestling to the world.

Kazuchika Okada is one of the top wrestlers in all of NJPW and although he is still in his prime, he is now talking about his goals for the future as he believes he doesn’t have that much time left as an active wrestler. 

During a recent interview with Number, Okada revealed that one of his goals is to try and exceed Antonio Inoki’s efforts to bring NJPW to the rest of the world. Okada believes that the internet and streaming can help in ways that were not available when Inoki was doing his best to bring Strong Style to the masses.

“People might say, ‘It’s impossible to surpass Mr. Inoki,’ but I think we have no choice but to make pro wrestling more exciting. First of all, when Mr. Inoki was competing, we were able to fill Tokyo Dome to capacity. After getting the number of spectators back, and now that we have video distribution on the internet, we would like to spread the word about professional wrestling in a different way,” he said. “Mr. Inoki used to be focusing on overseas strategy and trying to bring New Japan’s professional wrestling to the world, but now times have changed and there are many New Japan fans overseas through the Internet. I would like to go beyond what Inoki-san has done in that way. I don’t think I have that much time left as an active [wrestler] either, so I want to do my best.”

One person who hopes to wrestle Kazuchika Okada before either of them retires is Adam Copeland. Fans can read his thoughts on a match against “The Rainmaker” here. 

Tony Khan recently paid tribute to Antonio Inoki at AEW WrestleDream where Adam Copeland made his debut.