Kazuchika Okada Says The Forbidden Door Is Closed
NJPW star speaks on AEW, Forbidden Door, and his IWGP World Heavyweight Title challenge.
The Forbidden Door between NJPW and AEW may be closed for now, but Kazuchika Okada is looking forward to opening it again.
The record-breaking former IWGP World Champion tweeted as much in the aftermath of the highly successfully 26 June supercard, where he challenged the man he dropped NJPW's top title to on 12 June, 'Switchblade' Jay White.
Thanking AEW and Chicago, Okada signed off with "See you next time":-
Thank you Chicago. Thank you AEW. The door is closed. But I’ll open the door again. See you next time.
— オカダ・カズチカ (@rainmakerXokada) June 27, 2022
Although he was unsuccessful in regaining the IWGP strap from White, Okada wasn't involved in the Forbidden Door finish. The four-way scrap concluded when an injured Adam Cole hit the deck following an attempted Rainmaker. With 'Hangman' Adam Page already neutralised, White swept in, putting Okada out of contention before landing the pin on Cole, with whom he had been building tension in the weeks prior to Forbidden Door.
Okada debuted for AEW on the 22 June episode of Dynamite, participating in the last stage of the build to the IWGP World Heavyweight Title match. The 34-year-old is one of the most decorated Japanese wrestlers of all time with 1,790 combined days as IWGP Heavyweight and 159 as IWGP World Heavyweight Champion to his name.