With Okada’s time in NJPW coming to an end, who would you say was his greatest rival?

12 comments

1. A very curious omission here

2. I’d break it down like this with Okada’s rivals:

   1. Hiroshi Tanahashi is his greatest in-ring rival and probably the most important to his career; the series of matches those two have had over the past decade or so have defined modern NJPW and are truly a masterclass in long-term storytelling through in-ring action imo; what Tana is to Okada is what Tsuruta was to Misawa, what Suwama is to Miyahara.

   2. Tetsuya Naito is his “generational rival”, being the man from the same generation coming up as Okada, the man who has fought constantly with Okada over who is the top guy in NJPW after Tanahashi; as great as Okada is and as much he has achieved in NJ, Naito is his superior in overall popularity as far as being beloved by crowds (even though Naito is 1B to Okada’s 1A).

   3. Kenny Omega is probably the guy who pushed Okada the most as far as in-ring intensity and performance wise, with their 4 matches all seeking to top what came before in the spots and counters they came up with for each other.

   4. Will Ospreay is the guy who was like Okada’s little brother, the man who sought to surpass the “Rainmaker” as a way to cement his own place in both the company and the business overall; Okada is probably Ospreay’s greatest rival (only others are Shingo and ZSJ, as far as most matches and in-ring chemistry), even if Ospreay isn’t necessarily Okada’s greatest rival.

3. Always felt like the rivalry between Naito/Okada was more between the fans of the two than the wrestlers themselves than the Tanahashi ones. But that’s my western perspective

4. Difficult to say because both are equally important for NJPW. Okada became the Ace with the Tanahashi rivalry, Tanahashi beat him in the main event of WK twice so he was a real hurdle for Okada but I’d say the rivalry has been pretty much done since 2019. Tanahashi beat balloon Okada in 2018 but their Wrestling Dontaku match already showed that Tanahashi would never beat normal Okada again, their G1 match at Dallas confirmed that. (and I don’t expect Okada to lose to Tanahashi next month either)

   Naito is his generational rival, probably drew the most money with him and it was the rivalry that solidified Okada’s status as the Ace and final boss in NJPW. Especially when Okada beat him at WK12, that win was really huge and Okada looked unstoppable after that. I don’t remember what the win-loss record is exactly but they’re more or less at the same level. Okada won more title matches but Naito won the 2 biggest matches of their rivalry (WK14 and the G1 final).

   Naturally since they’re generational rivals it lasted until the end. Now that I think about it, in a way I’m glad they’ll probably never wrestle each other again because that G1 final was the perfect ending to their rivalry. It’s like Nakamura vs Tanahashi in the G1 Climax 25 final.

   Additionally I’d say Jay White was his third biggest rival, he actually had a huge advantage over him for a while, beat him at WK13, beat him for the world title, and he’s the reason why Okada allied with Tanahashi so he contributed a lot storywise.
   AJ Styles/Kenny in 4th place. AJ Styles came to NJPW and beat Okada on his first try for the IWGP Heavyweight belt, AJ was a big hurdle on his road to the Ace status. Kenny was the underdog at first but pushed Okada to his limits.
   And if I had to give a 5th place…maybe SANADA ? He was Okada’s bitch for a long time but he actually beat him for the title in the end. (which is the reason why I don’t consider Ospreay his rival, he never beat him in a big match)

5. Match perspective, Kenny. Story perspective, Tanahashi.

6. [deleted]

7. Kenny Omega

8. Tanahashi and only Tanahashi. Also where’s Omega?

9. 1. Tanahashi
   2. Naito
   3. Omega
   4. Ospreay
   5. White

10. There’s no debate.

    Naito doesn’t have a signature rival in-ring. His rival is the company.

11. 1. Tanahashi.

    2. Naito

    3. Omega

    4. White

    5. Ospreay

12. Tanahashi was Okada’s greatest rival. The man that created the biggest challenge for Okada during his rise to the top every time. If Okada was trying to become champ, tana was there and same for his journey to ACE etc.

    Okada was Naito’s greatest rival. Okada was the golden boy and Naito needed to prove to the company that he was good enough by beating Okada but that wasn’t always as easy as Naito probably hoped it would have been.