Kazuchika Okada WILL Sign For AEW
Okada bids farewell to NJPW, and 'The Rainmaker' will reportedly be #AllElite very soon.
Kazuchika Okada will soon be #AllElite.
This is according to the latest update from Fightful Select, who were prepared to provide confirmation that his destination would indeed be AEW, "barring some unforeseen catastrophe".
In their detailed report, they added;
"Legendary New Japan Pro Wrestling star Kazuchika Okada is headed with All Elite Wrestling after leaving NJPW. We’re told that the deal was effectively agreed to in the last couple of weeks, but we haven’t confirmed that pen has been put to paper as we’re told it is being finalized. AEW has been confident that they’d land him for the last several weeks, and even as far back as mid-January."
Okada confirmed he would be leaving New Japan Pro Wrestling at the start of this year, and since then there have been multiple reports of bidding wars and - at different points - conflicting reports about if he'd end up in Tony Khan's organisation or inking a deal with WWE. As recently as the end of January, this even appeared to be the case following a report by Monthly Puroresu. Speculation has swung back and forth ever since, but the Fightful Select report is the latest to solidify his status.
It added;
"We haven’t heard firm plans on when Kazuchika Okada is slated for his debut as an AEW-contracted star. However, we’ve heard it’s expected to be after he finishes up his commitments with New Japan Pro Wrestling. There had already been creative ideas for Okada tossed around as of January. We’ve also heard discussion out of Las Vegas this past weekend discussing that the first half of March would be big for the company."
Okada's final match for NJPW will be a multi-man bout alongside Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI against Francesco Akira, Great-O-Khan, HENARE, Jeff Cobb and Matt Riddle at New Beginning In Sapporo on February 24th.