Kazuchika Okada looks to be winding down his in-ring career in the near future.
The 7-time IWGP World Champion is regarded as one of the best wrestlers of his generation with multiple match of the year contenders each year and 25 matches rated 5* or more by Dave Meltzer. However, at just 35 years of age, The Rain Maker is looking at life after wrestling.
Okada’s goal post-retirement is to make New Japan more well-known to the rest of the world, surpassing the efforts of the promotion’s founder, the late Antonio Inoki.
Speaking with Number, Okada revealed his strategy to surpass Inoki’s contributions by relying heavily on advances in the internet:
“People might say, ‘It’s impossible to surpass Mr. Inoki,’ but I think we have no choice but to make pro wrestling more exciting. First of all, when Mr. Inoki was competing, we were able to fill Tokyo Dome to capacity. After getting the number of spectators back, and now that we have video distribution on the internet, we would like to spread the word about professional wrestling in a different way,” he said. “Mr. Inoki used to be focusing on overseas strategy and trying to bring New Japan’s professional wrestling to the world, but now times have changed and there are many New Japan fans overseas through the Internet. I would like to go beyond what Inoki-san has done in that way. I don’t think I have that much time left as an active [wrestler] either, so I want to do my best.”
[English quote obtained via Fightful]
Featured image: Daily DDT
