No shot Okada didn’t big league

14 comments

1. I mean yeah probably, but also like at this point Okada losing to somebody in a random no build singles match because he’s leaving wouldn’t really do nearly as much for someone as people seem to think. The damage was already done last year so might as well just roll with it

   They are very lame farewell matches though, I expected something with a little more emotional weight to it like Okada & Ishii vs Bishamon or something idk. It’s odd

2. If he goes to AEW it would be cool for Shota or someone to come and try to beat his ass to get their deserved win at Forbidden Door. Of course TK wouldn’t let them beat Okada so that’s a story issue.

3. It’s okay, if he goes to AEW he will just come over and beat all the NJPW guys anyway, take a few of the belts too.

4. >just a throwaway tag against opponents just here to lose to CHAOS

   I wouldn’t be so sure about that. This is the first we’ll be seeing of UE post-Ospreay. Riddle may have just won the TV title from Tanahashi and would naturally be looking for a faction to back him up.

   I get the feeling there will be some storyline developments with UE here, and maybe also some setup for what CHAOS will do post-Okada.

5. Why they at least didn’t put the trios belts on TMDK is beyond me. Okada just vacated right after and now the belts are going into indefinite hibernation, as is tradition

6. I never listened to the dirtsheets too much, we don’t know shit about what’s going on, but I didn’t believe Okada was leaving at first so I guess maybe it’s true and he just really believes he’s the Inoki of this era lol.

   I gave Gedo a lot of shit for how he booked Ospreay to go over Tsuji/Shota/Zack and I’ll always say it was useless and he should have lost the belt sooner but with that said, it’s clear Ospreay always did his best to put over his opponents in some way and he surely wasn’t against losing on the way out.

   And we saw that again in the cage match, he tried to elevate (no pun intended) everyone with him. Looks like Okada won’t even try to really put over anybody on the way out he’ll just do the usual routine and fuck off. That’s incredibly lame and disappointing for a guy who owes so much to NJPW. I hope Gedo/Bushiroad will finally learn from this.

7. It neatly explains my problems with 2023’s booking. The past few shows have been great though. Hope they keep the momentum going.

8. This stuff has greatly soured me on Okada. Osprey didn’t see a problem putting people over. And I would argue his ceiling is potentially higher than Okada’s in the West. Okada going full hulkster is the darkest timeline for sure.

9. It’s truly disappointing that Okada benefitted from Hogan/Reigns tier booking since his debut and yet didn’t feel the need to pay it forward.

   But who needs generational rivalries with Tsuji/Shota when there are *bangers* with Daniel Garcia waiting?

10. At least Ospreay got a proper send-off.

11. I think there’s a strong chance this is a mutual decision. If okada was going to wwe i think hed be putting people over on the way out, but since hes going to aew, hes gonna be back for the big shows, so if hes gonna elevate the next generation, i can see it being at wrestle kingdom, rather than a random show in february.

12. I always start with the bookers instead of the wrestlers themselves, unless we get a Hulk Hogan type story.

    You can tell Okada cares about the company, even if he’s leaving. If NJPW really wanted to put over younger guys on his way out, they probably could have.

    The choice for Tanahashi to be his last singles opponent seems more like a personal one given their history and good relationship.

13. I don’t think many people will really care especially Japanese fans but this last bit of Okadas njpw career has definitely took him out of the njpw goat discussion, he’s atleast behind Tana in every way.

    But that doesn’t matter and no one will care about this in 10 years probably

14. Really hurts his legacy for me personally. If you want to leave fine but at least do something to give back to the company on the way out. Costs him nothing to lose to Shota at this point.

    I hope his trip to America is as injury plagued as Kentas was