NJPW's Kazuchika Okada Spotted Leaving Last Night's WWE Raw
What was the IWGP Heavyweight Champion doing at a WWE show?
In news guaranteed to send the internet rumour mill into overdrive, NJPW's current IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada was spotted leaving last night's WWE Raw taping in Phoenix, Arizona. Several fans caught 'The Rainmaker' departing the Talking Stick Resort Arena, with multiple videos finding their way to social media after the show (as seen below).
Okada had been in the United States for last week's NJPW G1 Special events in Long Beach, California, where he successfully defended his title against Cody Rhodes.
While his sighting will likely prompt talk of Okada signing with WWE, this isn't the first time he has been at one of their events. The IWGP Champion attended NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II and SummerSlam as Shinsuke Nakamura's guest last year, and with former NJPW stars Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, and Finn Balor on the Raw roster, he was likely just visiting friends last night.
Furthermore, Okada is currently under a long-term NJPW contract, supposedly to the tune of $2.2 million per year, which means he cannot legally negotiate with WWE. 'The Rainmaker' has stated in the past that he'd never be interested in working for WWE, though speculation will likely persist regardless.