Update on NJPW booking Kazuchika Okada as Hiroshi Tanahashi’s final opponent
More information is available regarding NJPW booking Kazuchika Okada as Hiroshi Tanahashi’s Wrestle Kingdom 20 opponent.
An article by Trish Speirs of The Social Suplex published this week notes that NJPW had interest in bringing in Shinsuke Nakamura as Tanahashi’s final opponent, but several factors led to Okada being booked instead.
According to the report, Nakamura requested his release from WWE so that he’d be able to wrestle Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom. Even though Nakamura has a clause in his contract that allows him to wrestle for other companies in Japan, being released from WWE would mean his match against Tanahashi wouldn’t create political issues stemming from NJPW’s partnerships with CMLL and AEW.
After originally agreeing to the request, Speirs writes that WWE later informed all parties that Nakamura could still work the match, but he would not be released from his contract.
Speirs wrote:
“The most consistent story (in terms of multiple outlets having been given the same information) is that Nakamura had asked to be released from his contract during the summer and that WWE had agreed to the request, allowing him to fulfill the match without any political issues with AEW or CMLL.“
“After the shows at Ryogoku Sumo Hall, TKO/WWE had stepped in and informed all parties that this would no longer be the case; however, Nakamura could still work the match, under conditional approval.“
The full article is available here.
Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez discussed Speirs’ article on the post-Raw edition of Wrestling Observer Radio.
Meltzer said:
“The basic gist of the story is, and we all knew it, Tanahashi did want to face Nakamura. He’s also basically said that of the choices that he felt the best choice for him to have a great match, which he wants to have, is Okada.”
Meltzer also noted that Kenny Omega and Tetsuya Naito’s names were brought up in discussions as well, although it’s not clear how seriously they were considered.
Meltzer mentioned that while NJPW using a WWE-contracted wrestler could hurt its relationship with AEW, it would also be damaging to its long-standing partnership with CMLL.
“Their longest partner is CMLL and CMLL is now in a war with WWE and AAA in Mexico with WWE owning AAA,” Meltzer said.
“If they used Nakamura and worked with WWE to put a WWE guy in the main event of their biggest show of the year then it’s kind of a slap in the face of both AEW and CMLL and that’s not something that they were willing to do.”
The full episode of Wrestling Observer Radio is available here for subscribers.
Ian Carey is a writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, whose work has been featured in NOW Magazine, The Huffington Post, and more. A lifelong wrestling aficionado born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he has covered the industry for a decade and a half. He joined the f4wonline.com team in 2019.