Kazuchika Okada Looks Back on NJPW in 2022, the Passing of Antonio Inoki

– NJPW1972.com spoke to Kazuchika Okada ahead of this week’s NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17 event. On January 4, Okada will face Jay White in the main event for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. Okada reflected on the year 2022, the legacy of the late Antonio Inoki, and more. Below are some highlights:

On wrestling in his hometown of Anjo in 2022: “Right. I was able to wrestle overseas again, and for NJPW in Anjo it was the first event in 38 years, so it was really cool to be in front of my home crowd. There was a lot of variety to everything this year. Obviously, those title matches were tough, but that’s something different to being in front of overseas fans, and it’s different again to being in the smaller local markets and getting that warm reception. So I really got to experience a lot over the course of the year.”

Okada on NJPW recovering from the COVID pandemic last year: “I think so. We had cheering crowds back on some shows, so it was the first time in a long time that the fans were raising their voices louder than us in the ring. I think we’re really starting to get back to where we used to be and where we need to be. Just in the day to day, there really aren’t many chances for people to really yell and let energy out, right? So for people to come to wrestling, buy an expensive ticket and not be able to release that energy- obviously we want wrestling to be a reliever for that stress, so cheering events is really putting us on the right path again.”

Kazuchika Okada on how his career compares to Antonio Inoki: “I don’t think I hold up at all. It wasn’t just national news when he passed; when he died I was in England, and it was news over there as well. I’d like to have that level of presence that he had, and I have to really elevate professional wrestling to be able to do that.”

His thoughts on Inoki’s philosophy of being able to do anything with the right energy: “Yeah, I do. I don’t think it’s energy alone; motivation is important as well. But when it comes to pro-wrestling, I have both. That’s why I am in the position I’m in, I think, and what I plan to bring to January 4. … I think it’s something more fundamental, like the root source of all this power. I think if you have that energy, motivation can arise from it. But whatever you do, without that power, without that primal energy, there’s nothing you can do. It’s really the most important I think.”

On January 4, Okada will face Jay White for the IWGP Championship. The event will be held at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. It will stream live on NJPW World.