Kazuchika Okada

A teenager in Mexico

Okada left school in Japan at 15 to train with Ultimo Dragon's Toryumon school, debuting in Mexico in 2004. He joined New Japan Pro-Wrestling in 2007 as a young lion, the company's term for trainees who wear plain black gear and do chores while they learn.

The Rainmaker

After an excursion to TNA in the US, he returned to New Japan in January 2012 as the Rainmaker, with a cocky character and fake money that rained down during his entrance. Within weeks he beat Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, and the two had a series of matches that helped revive NJPW's popularity.

A record reign

Okada's fourth IWGP Heavyweight title reign, from June 2016 to June 2018, lasted 720 days with a record number of successful defences, including the famous series with Kenny Omega. He also won the G1 Climax tournament several times and became the face of New Japan's international growth.

A new chapter

In early 2024 he left NJPW as a free agent and joined All Elite Wrestling, where he won the AEW Continental Championship and played a confident villain. His smooth dropkick, often called the best in wrestling, and his patient big-match style make him a favourite for fans of long, dramatic main events.

Okada's rise came during a period when New Japan was rebuilding after hard years in the 2000s, and he and Tanahashi became the faces of its comeback. NJPW's international streaming service and its January 4 Tokyo Dome shows helped fans around the world follow him in real time. His matches tend to be long and carefully built, with a slow start, a big middle and a dramatic finish, which suits fans who enjoy wrestling as a story told over many minutes. A good starting list: his 2012 title win over Tanahashi, his 2017 series with Omega and his G1 Climax finals. Watching those in order shows how a young, cocky challenger grew into the calm, confident champion who defined an era of Japanese wrestling.

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