PWI Top 500 Wrestlers Of 2018 - 10 Names REVEALED

2. Kazuchika Okada

Hiroshi Tanahashi Kazuchika Okada
NJPW1972.com

That Kazuchika Okada rests only one place above the largely-absent Brock Lesnar does a huge disservice to yet 'The Rainmaker' after a yet another year completely redefining expectations in professional wrestling.

If his era-defining and record smashing IWGP Title defences against Tetsuya Naito, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kenny Omega and others weren't enough, his recent "Broken" Okada transformation has been a brave and bold tweak to his revered persona.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett