Kazuchika Okada Explains What Makes Kenny Omega Such A Great Opponent

The two titans will meet once again.

The current IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada has now surpassed well over 700 days as the champion. His reign became even more prestigious as he defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi at ‘Wrestling Dontaku’ last month. In that specific bout Okada broke Tanahashi’s record for the most successful title defenses in one reign with twelve. After having bested some of the top talent in New Japan Pro Wrestling, there was seemingly no one else to challenge the “The Rainmaker”, but he picked up the microphone following his match with Tanahshi and made the bold decision to call out a man who has taken him to his limit in both wrestling-related aspects of the word, Kenny Omega. Okada told his rival that they could have once last dance but this time there will be no time-limit, the match will take place at ‘Dominion’ on June 9th, and it will be contested in a 2-Out-Of-3 Falls match. “The Cleaner” eagerly accepted and the match was made official on the spot.

Kazuchika Okada was interviewed by Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated and Okada went over why he and Kenny Omega match up so well as opponents.

“Kenny is tough, he’s strong, he’s awesome; I think all those things are pretty obvious. The thing with him is that with the power of NJPW World, he’s been able to get such a following worldwide. The whole world has their hopes pinned on him and that’s a definite X-factor.” He said.

Kazuchika Okada and Kenny Omega’s past three matches have received the highest of praises from the wrestling world and the champ feels that their forthcoming bout next weekend will show nothing but the essence of what makes this sport great.

“They can expect the very essence of what makes wrestling great. One year ago, we couldn’t decide things between me and Kenny even after 60 minutes. So now, two out of three falls, no time limit… the whole world is going to see how amazing, how tough, how affecting pro wrestling can be, and you’re absolutely going to want to witness it live.” Okada said.

Okada was then asked to weigh in on who he believes are the top wrestlers in the business and he responded with:

“Kenny, Naito, and Ospreay.” He stated. “Aside from myself, those three are what makes NJPW the best promotion in the world.”

Kenny Omega & Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship is the main-event of ‘Dominion’ but the event will be presenting a stacked match card outside of that bout as well. To view the current lineup for the show, click here.