10 Wrestlers That Could Get A Good Match Out Of ANYONE
4. Kazuchika Okada
It takes a special kind of performer to be so good that he's amazing at being average - and Kazuchika Okada is that very performer.
His current arc is embedded in the very framework of pro wrestling's capitalist pursuit of glory - he was 'The Rainmaker' and "the man who made it rain money" because he'd reached the pinnacle of his profession. The gimmick was augmented by a 2016-2018 IWGP Championship reign and body of work that solidified him as the Ace of that particular Universe - replacing New Japan Pro Wrestling's Stone Cold Steve Austin-level saviour Hiroshi Tanahashi. Until, like so many rich people before him, he went broke.
Losing the title to Kenny Omega at June's Dominion pay-per-view highlighted how fragile his paid and made persona really was. He stumbled over every speedbump in the aftermath. He went weeks without winning a single match, stuttered out of the gate in the 2018 G1 Climax, sported an ill-suited red dye job and colour scheme and replaced the waterfall of wealth in his entrance with dollar signs drawn on instantly-deflating balloons. Even his entrance was soundtracked by a remixed theme that robbed the original of its atmosphere.
Few have expressed their total control over audience manipulation better than Okada since. His matches almost always deliver on excellent expectations, but only don't if he decides they shouldn't. Many wrestlers have worked harder to put over opponents over the years, but few have actively reduced themselves to make it so fiercely entertaining.