Kazuchika Okada is none too pleased that Jay White is currently the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, and made those thoughts clear ahead of their IWGP World Heavyweight Championship match taking place at Wrestle Kingdom 17 on January 4th, 2023.
Okada spoke about White’s status during an interview with Sports Illustrated:
“I find Jay White’s attitude embarrassing, to be honest. It’s a disgrace to have him representing New Japan Pro-Wrestling as our top champion, and that’s why I have to show just how great an Okada title match is at the Tokyo Dome—and to end that era of his.”
Okada also spoke about working with Tony Khan’s AEW promotion, who worked with NJPW for their crossover event ‘Forbidden Dorr’ back in June of this year.
“There are places where they win out over NJPW, and areas where New Japan is superior as well. I think both sides came away with something to learn and work on, and I’d love to have another event with those lessons learned.”
Okada expressed his desire that the next crossover event happens in Japan.
“Last time was in the U.S., so let’s have it in Japan next time.”
