JBL often says the following phrase about Randy Orton: if you were to build a wrestling company from the ground-up, the man youd build that company around would be Randy Orton. Hes not wrong: Randy Orton, despite some questionable booking decisions in the past and alleged blandness in his promo skills, is a very talented wrestler. It was also true when John Cena quipped that Orton makes everything look easy. He has clearly come a long way from his debut in 2002. Since then he has won multiple World Championships, Tag Team Titles, won the Royal Rumble, and has main-evented WrestleMania. However, his initial run as World Champion was interesting. He defeated Chris Benoit, a renowned and skilled grappler, for the World Championship at SummerSlam 2004. In doing so, he became the youngest world champion in WWE history at age 24, yet his reign only lasted a single month. For reasons that were never quite explained, WWE pulled the carpet from right under his feet, halting his main event push. It took him another three years before he got back to the top of the WWE. So which Japanese star is most similar to the Viper? Japanese Equivalent: Kazuchika Okada Kazuchika Okada is taking New Japan Pro Wrestling by storm, in the same way that Orton did in 2008 and 2009. Like Orton, Okada was given a massive push during the early years of his career. However, after a delay in his initial push, Okada completely re-invented himself under his Rainmaker gimmick. Similar to JBLs rich man gimmick, Okadas gimmick saw him enter the arena as currency bills bearing his image rained down on the fans. While it is often said that Orton is indeed a good wrestler, which he is, Okada is an outstanding wrestler. He debuted as a wrestler at age 17, and was trained by, among other people, Ultimo Dragon, one of the most technically sound luchadores in history. This training has rubbed off on him very well, as he has a wide variety of impressive maneuvers in his arsenal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKaY9R6VzHM Standing at 63 and weighting 236lbs., Okada has demonstrated near mastery of every aspect of Japanese wrestling, from his high-flying moves, to his impressive submission holds. Though only 27 years old, Okada is already a two-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, has had two 5-Star Matches, and had one of the greatest feuds in New Japan history, and the Match of the Year in 2013. Against whom? The man who is the counterpart to the next and final entry
Alexander Podgorski is a writer for WhatCulture that has been a fan of professional wrestling since he was 8 years old. He loves all kinds of wrestling, from WWE and sports entertainment, to puroresu in Japan.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Queen's University in Political Studies and French, and a Master's Degree in Public Administration. He speaks English, French, Polish, a bit of German, and knows some odd words and phrases in half a dozen other languages.
