Kazuchika Okada has had a very successful 2023 thus far in NJPW.
He kicked off the year by defeating Jay White for the IWGP World Heavyweight Title at Wrestle Kingdom 17, then defending the title successfully against the likes of Hiroshi Tanahashi and Shingo Takagi.
Despite losing the championship to SANADA in April, it didn’t take long for Okada to find success again, winning the NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Titles with CHAOS stablemate Tomohiro Ishii, and Hiroshi Tanahashi. The trio hold these titles to this day.
After sixteen years, Okada is still very much at the forefront of the NJPW product, and now he has given his thoughts on wrestler transfers between New Japan, NOAH, AJPW and other promotions.
Kazuchika Okada Calls For Transfers Between Wrestling Companies
After “All Together Again,” a joint event from NJPW, NOAH and AJPW, the discussion of wrestler transfers between rosters has seemingly kicked off.
In an interview with Tokyo Sports, six-time World Champion Kazuchika Okada gave his thoughts on transfers.
“It would be better (for wrestlers) to transfer. Since the three organizations are working together, I think it would be interesting if we could try to have that kind of exchange.”
Transfers between rosters may sound normal for Western audiences with the frequent relocations between WWE’s SmackDown, Raw and NXT Rosters, but for a long time in Japan, it was heavily frowned upon. This was due to a heated rivalry between Japanese wrestling promotions, which has only been smoothed over recently.
A recent sign of a “transfer” will be Kaito Kiyomiya’s upcoming performance in this year’s NJPW G1 Climax. Kiyomiya is a staple of NOAH’s roster, however after impressing in several appearances in NJPW (many alongside Kazuchika Okada), he was invited to participate in the prestigious tournament.
Despite being announced for the G1, Kazuchika Okada’s current focus will be on AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door, where he is set to take on Bryan Danielson for the first time ever.
H/T WrestlingInc