Kazuchika Okada has shown himself to be a generational talent. Not just in New Japan Pro Wrestling, but all across the world of professional wrestling. It turns out one of the matches that many of us remember in the history of WrestleMania inspired The Rainmaker as one of his favorite ever matches.
Through a translator, Okada spoke with Sports Illustrated and wound up revealing one of his all time favorite matches was between Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho at WrestleMania XIX.
“The first match that made me realize how great wrestling is was Keiji Mutoh and Hiroshi Hase vs. Yuji Nagata and Jun Akiyama. This was before NJPW World was around, so maybe non-Japanese fans aren’t so familiar with it, but it was a dream match and was fun to watch. There was one other match I used to watch a lot. It was on a DVD at my mentor Ultimo Dragon’s house, and that was Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho at WrestleMania 19. I learned so much from that match.”
When HBK heard Okada’s words, he in turn had great compliments for The Rainmaker, saying that he thinks Okada could become a huge star in the WWE.
“I’m so incredibly appreciative of that. I’ve always admired the style in Japan, and here’s a guy that admires my style. Someone once asked me how Okada would adjust if he were ever in the WWE, and I know the answer to that—he’d adjust fantastically, because he’s a fantastic talent. It’s like me. People would say, ‘Well, you only wrestled in the WWE,’ but I could have wrestled anywhere. When a guy is talented, he’s talented. So I’m thankful that Okada, this unbelievably talented young man, gained one or two things from my match.”
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