Kazuchika Okada Reflects On His Destino To Hiroshi Tanahashi At NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20

Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi hit a number of movies to pay tribute to other stars during their NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20 match, and Okada acknowledges his Destino was a bit awkward. The two competed in Tanahashi’s final match at the January 4th event. During the bout, the two paid tribute to Katsuyori Shibata and Shinsuke Nakamura. Tanahashi nailed Okada with a PK in honor of Shibata, while Okada hit Nakamura’s Kinshasa.

Okada also also hit a Destino, albeit a modified one, in order to pay tribute to Tetsuya Naito. He spoke with Tokyo Sports about the latter move, noting that he wanted to do a traditional Destino but couldn’t quite do it.

“I actually wanted to do a proper Destino,” Okada said. “But when I practiced, I couldn’t do it at all. Maybe it’s because I’m big, but it was hard to do… It’s such a difficult move that I wonder how Naito was able to do it. Well, the form was a little awkward, but I think I was able to do it for Naito.”

After Okada picked up the win over Tanahashi, a number of talent appeared to honor the retiring star. Naito was among them along with Jay White, Will Ospreay, Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, and Shibata.