Kazuchika Okada’s IWGP Title Reign - Every Match Ranked from Worst To Best

12. Vs. Bad Luck Fale (Wrestling Dontaku 2017)

Bad Luck Fale's run-in attack following Okada's incredible title defence against Katsuyori Shibata at Sakura Genesis (more on that later) was a brutal statement of intent from the much-improved Bullet Club henchman, as was the pinfall victory he scored over the Champion in a Dontaku tour as part of this contest's final push.

Whilst comfortably the worst of Okada's defences, the contest was only really hampered by the restrictions placed upon them both by a notable size disparity and Fale's inability to engage in the Champion's typical epic.

Kept short to mask the challenger's limitations wherever possible, the 21-minute duration removed the usual cautious and carefully constructed build-up Okada ordinarily enjoys in his main events. Fale's careless indifference towards the 'Rainmaker' was remarkable, as was the sh*tkicking he dished out in a sprint start to try and stop Okada even getting into the contest.

'The Rainmaker's guts and mettle were tested as he battled out of bearhugs, countered out of the Bad Luck Fall and kicked out of a violent tombstone.

Technically supreme in the face of a challenge more physical than mental, Okada converting waist control to wrist control after transitioning from a German suplex into a match-winning Rainmaker was an advertisement of everything so fiercely proficient about a Champion now just under a year into his reign.