When Did Tony Khan Know Kazuchika Okada Was Appearing On AEW TV?

The Rainmaker finally made his AEW bow on this past week's Dynamite.

by Andrew Pollard
Kazuchika Okada
NJPW

During a recent media call ahead of tonight's AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door PPV, Tony Khan has revealed when he knew that Kazuchika Okada would be appearing on AEW programming.

Of course, the Rainmaker made his AEW bow on this past Wednesday's edition of Dynamite, with many fans previously pondering whether or not the legendary NJPW star would have a role to play at Forbidden Door. As we now know, Okada will be looking to regain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship from Jay White tonight in a four-way contest that also features 'Hangman' Adam Page and Adam Cole.

In terms of when the AEW President knew that Okada would be appearing on AEW TV, Khan explained that he didn't find out about this until the week prior.

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As per Wrestling Inc.:

"Would I have liked to have all the people involved on TV longer? Yes. That was one of the cliffhangers I knew I was going to face going in. [A] while back, I didn't know that. I thought we could get Okada in sooner. I found out he wasn't coming till the week before. I had to deal with it."

Khan had plentiful praise to lavish on the New Japan icon during this call, detailing how he was a fan of Okada's "long before we launched AEW or before I knew I was going to be in the wrestling business" and proclaiming how it was a "huge honor" to have the star appear on AEW Dynamite.

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Emanating from Chicago's United Center, AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door takes place tonight.

Be sure to head to FITE.tv to purchase AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.