AEW President Tony Khan recently revealed that Kazuchika Okada has repeatedly told him that he is a diehard fan of a major Premier League team.
‘The Rainmaker’ loves Manchester City and had fun rubbing it in to Khan who, along with AEW and the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars, is the co-owner of Fulham Football Club. Okada, New Japan’s long-running ace, is in the United States at the moment for Forbidden Door.
Coming off an IWGP World Heavyweight Championship loss to Jay White, Kazuchika Okada will compete in a rare four-way bout for the belt. After two years away from the world title picture, many expected another epic, lengthy reign for Okada after he unseated Shingo Takagi on January 4th.
‘Switchblade’ terminating his run at the six month mark has left many guessing what the peroxide enthusiast’s booking future holds.
During a media call to discuss Forbidden Door, Khan discussed the longest reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion’s Manchester City fandom:
“For fun, he must have told me 17 times that he’s a Manchester City fan. [laughs]. I get it, Okada, you like Manchester City. He’s great. I really liked hanging out with him and I know I’ll be talking to him when Fulham plays Man City, which is a tough game, that’s the toughest game in the business. He’ll be letting me know what he thinks about that one. I hope Fulham can get a good result there. I always want Fulham to get a good result but now, I’d love to have some bragging rights wth Okada, especially against, arguably the best football club in the world.” (H/T Fightful)
2022 has proven to be a fruitful return to form for Kazuchika Okada after a frustrating 2021. From his G1 Climax victory being cut short due to Kota Ibushi’s freak injury to getting taken down by Jeff Cobb, last year was not ‘The Rainmaker’s finest run in NJPW.
This year has seen the living legend return to the top of the card with gusto. From his high-drawing trilogy with career-long nemesis Tetsuya Naito to heated bouts with British favourites Will Ospreay and Zack Sabre Jr., Kazuchika Okada is very much back to being New Japan’s leading man.
While the likelihood of anyone bar Jay White leaving Forbidden Door as champion tonight is slim to none, the show is still an exciting bit of progress for Kazuchika Okada on the global stage. AEW is the most mainstream platform outside of Japan to’ve hosted NJPW’s number one star.
For ‘The Rainmaker’, it’s a chance to make it rain big time in the United States.