Kazuchika Okada gives his thoughts on Kota Ibushi and the Double Gold Dash at Wrestle Kingdom 14
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I want to bring the power of pro-wrestling all across Japan.
–We’re going to get into your match with Kota Ibushi and the Double Gold Dash at Wrestle Kingdom, but first of all, congratulations on winning Tokyo Sports’ MVP award.
Okada: Thanks very much. To be honest though, I don’t think many people can believe this was my first win in four years. I was certainly surprised to hear that it had been that long since I’d won it. I’ve been at the very top level for that entire time. Of course, when you consider I’ve won match of the year six years running now, the message is clear; if you want to see the best matches, you watch Kazuchika Okada.
–Even before the Double Gold Dash, you took the double awards from Tokyo Sports.
Okada: Right. I was happy to receive the awards, but to be honest, as far as the titles go, I think one should be enough.
–So how did you feel when the fan vote was in favour of the Double Gold Dash?
Okada: That night in Osaka, I really thought the fans felt the same way I did, that an IWGP heavyweight Championship match should be enough. From there I suggested we put it to0 the vote. But opening that box led us to the double title situation. Well, it’s only fair that for two nights in front of a packed Tokyo Dome, we give the people what they want to see, and that on top of that I go out there and blow everybody away two nights in a row.
–You weren’t necessarily into the idea of a double championship match, but the idea of selling out the Tokyo Dome, and giving the fans matches they want to see is motivation enough to you?
Okada: That’s right. It’s more than enough to me that we’re giving them what they want to see. To be honest right now, holding two championships isn’t something that’s particularly attractive to me in itself. Maybe after January 5, that feeling might change, but at any rate January 4 has to be the most important thing. Until that match is done, I can’t think about the fifth, so for now the fourth is most important.
–There are a lot of sights still to be seen in New Japan Pro-Wrestling. What is your vision for NJPW?
Okada: Well, what’s closest is selling out the Tokyo Dome. If we can do that then a new vision, a new ambition will come, I think. But first thing and most important thing to me is putting over 40,000 people inside that building. Then the power of pro-wrestling will spread through Japan.
–Nobody has stated that goal, of selling out the Dome, as assertively as you have.
Okada: But up to now, it’s been about wanting to do this. Now I’m saying we will do this. I’ve been told so many times about how hot wrestling is. My name is on more people’s lips than it ever has been. There are more eyes on us, so we really should be able to sell out the Dome. I think we have to if we want to elevate the status of pro-wrestling.
–There’s still a ways to go for wrestling?
Okada: Of course. I think pro wrestling is the best experience in the world. There’s nothing that beats it. So nothing should beat it as a draw. Not baseball, not soccer, not rugby, not the Olympics, not the biggest rock bands in the world. So I want to prove how amazing pro-wrestling is on January 4, then January 5 and on into 2020.
For me, it’s two back to back heavyweight title matches. I have to show the level of match that means.
–It’s a big undertaking, to completely sell out the Tokyo Dome for Wrestle Kingdom. Do you feel any pressure?
Okada: Honestly, not really. I’m not sure it is such a major undertaking.
–You don’t?
Okada: I don’t. I think that goal should always be in mind of selling out everywhere. It’s burned into not just the wrestlers’ minds but staff, the office as well. Fill a venue and everything sounds different, the atmosphere is different, it’s a different level of excitement. We have to achieve that, and achieve it so much that it gets taken as read.
–What started you on this track, of wanting to sell out the Dome?
Okada: Well, I figured somebody needs to say it. A lot of people were saying ‘I want to have a match in a sold out Dome’ and that’s quite a negative stance to take. Somebody needed to come out and say ‘we’re going to make it happen’. That’s my job as a champion. If the house isn’t full, the bulk of that responsibility is on the main event, because the main event is what it says it is; it’s what makes people want to buy the tickets. So it wa son me as a champion to stop taking the defensive attitude and step out to say ‘we’re doing this’. Getting more people to see us, and getting more people to know us.
–Of all the people in the Double Gold Dash, you, Ibushi, White and Naito, you’re the only one who hasn’t expressed an interest in double gold. Some may say your motivation is lower than the other three’s.
Okada: Well for me, this is two IWGP title matches back to back, and that’s motivation enough. I have to show the level of match that means. Those others, even though they say they want two titles, they have to admit that the IWGP Heavyweight is the top belt, right? That’s why they want two titles, that’s why they want this (IWGP Heavyweight) title.
–It all comes down to the IWGP Heavyweight title in the end.
Okada: That’s right. I’m the shining star at the top of this whole thing, and that’s what makes this important. If somebody decided, ‘right, it’s going to be a double title match for the IWGP Intercontinental and NEVER Openweight Championships’ nowhere near this level of interest would be generated, right? It’s this Heavyweight championship that’s making the whole thing possible.
–What level of prestige does the IWGP Heavyweight Championship hold in the sporting world do you think?
Okada: To me, it’s the richest prize there is anywhere. Above any competition, any gold medal anywhere. There might be a lot of champions and a lot of belts in combat sports, but it’s my belief that this is the biggest, the richest, the most important prize that there is anywhere in the world.
–More than just pro-wrestling, you hold the IWGP title above any other prize in professional sports?
Okada: We’re coming up to Tokyo 2020. The world’s eyes will be on Japan for the Olympics, and a lot of people will be travelling here from overseas to check it out. While they’re here I want them to see how amazing Japanese pro-wrestling is. I don’t want to lose out to the Olympics one bit as an attraction.
I can’t think about January 5. Unless I’m IWGP Heavyweight Champion, I’m not even allowed to the start line.
–Let’s talk specifically about Kota Ibushi on January 4. We saw things escalate through the preview matches until the switch flipped in Ibushi.
Okada: It took until December 8, really the very last chance he had, for Ibushi to finally level me with that briefcase with the contract inside. That was the Kota Ibushi I’d wanted to see, wanted to come out. I want the guy that is aiming to be IWGP Heavyweight Champion. Before any Double Gold Dash, anything like that, Ibushi has to become IWGP Heavyweight Champion first, and Ibushi needs to realize that and be in that mode.
–And he has to take the IWGP Heavyweight Championship from around the waist of Kazuchika Okada.
Okada: Right. I think we’ve seen flashes of that guy, but not the Kota Ibushi that he needs to be to take this from me, not yet. I think we won’t see that until January 4; we’re going to see a different side to Kota Ibushi, but you’re going to see a different side to Kazuchika Okada too, ultimately the better side.
–After those experiences in the previews, and of course your defeat to Ibushi in the G1, do you think you’ve formed an idea of what to be especially careful of when it comes to him?
Okada: He’s an amazing wrestler, of course, but I really found myself thinking ‘did he really win the G1?’ It’s hard to describe, but in the G1 I got the sense that this guy could do anything, he was kind of crazy. But I feel like since the summer he’s settled down a bit. I worry if the guy that showed up to Hiroshima in December is good enough to do this.
–Ibushi said that he can control that switch inside of himself, and that he will unleash that wild Kota Ibushi. Your thoughts?
Okada: If he could control it, if he could show ‘that’ Kota Ibushi, don’t you think he should have done that already? For all he knows, even the wildest Kota Ibushi isn’t enough to beat Kazuchika Okada in a championship setting.
–You’ve both talked about broadening professional wrestling, but while you have made reference to getting more people to know about pro-wrestling, Ibushi’s vision is to broaden the scope of what professional wrestling itself is. Your thoughts on that distinction?
Okada: Most wrestlers are the same way. We fight hard, we take a lot of punishment, we go through a lot of pain. Of course, for paying that price, you want as many people to see you go through it as possible. Now Ibushi, maybe he’s wired a little differently. But anyway you cut it, he has to be the top dog if any of what he says is to come true.
–Ibushi has said that winning the Double Gold Dash would just be the start.
Okada: He’d be right to say that. But he can’t be thinking about the fifth either. Before he gets to that match, he has to try and beat me. He has to try and beat a different Kazuchika Okada than the guy he faced in the G1. A Kazuchika Okada who is at his absolute best. he’s going to have the toughest fight of his life on the fourth, let alone the fifth.
–At Wrestle Kingdom 13 at the start of 2019, you weren’t in the main event for the first time since 2014, and you didn’t win either, losing to Jay White. Are you especially hungry to get back in winning form at the Tokyo Dome?
Okada: Well, I did manage to get my win back against Jay in April at Madison Square Garden, but yes, absolutely. I plan to make good on last year’s performances by starting strong in 2020.
–It seems we’re seeing a different Okada of late. You seem even more driven than normal…
Okada: That’s fighting spirit! Look, the Tokyo Dome only comes once a year right? And only two people can be in that main event. You’re going to have tons of people who are watching wrestling for the very first time, and it’s being seen worldwide by a huge audience. So it’s the place, above all others, where you have to show what NJPW is all about.
In 2020, I want pro wrestling to boom even further. I’m planning another great year.
–You’re now back in that spot in the main event on January 4. What’s your mental state, going into that spot?
Okada: Honestly, it’s not such a huge deal in my mind. I mean, I’ve been in so many main events, and now I’m back there. I main event in Ryogoku, main event in Osaka Jo-Hall, main event in MSG. Really, nobody else can be in that spot but me.
–This year Wrestle Kingdom is across two nights for the first time ever, and you have the chance to be in the main event on both January 4 and January 5. That really is a situation that might never repeat again.
Okada: It’s history for sure. If I lose on January 4 though, then it’s all over. If I win on the fourth and then lose on the fifth? That might be even worse, the absolute worst case scenario. So I’m planning to win on the fourth, win on the fifth, and get 2020 off to the best start possible.
–If you were to win both championships, will you continue to hold the IWGP Heavyweight as most important?
Okada: Hmm. Well, to be honest, I’m not thinking about January 5 right now. I’m putting absolutely everything I have into the main event on January 4. So as for what will happen if I win both the titles… Let’s save that talk for when that actually happens.
–People have talked about a pro wrestling boom of late, but do you think it’s the duty of everyone within the business to ensure that a continued growth and success for wrestling, rather than a passing fad?
Okada: In my opinion, I don’t think we can call this a boom. I mean, people have said ‘wrestling’s getting hot’ for how many years now? So to an extent, every time a new person says that wrestling’s hot right now, that means it’s reached someone else, and it’s getting bigger and bigger. So with that said, shouldn’t we be constantly ‘booming’? To have more and more people know about pro-wrestling, watch it, fall in love with it and keep this thing going. Eventually we’ll create a culture with pro-wrestling embedded in it.
–And with you at the center of that culture?
Okada: I don’t know, depending on how long it takes, I might not be around anymore! (laughs) But, in 2020, NJPW will celebrate 48 years. I want to keep growing New Japan and growing pro wrestling, so that it’ll be stable and prosperous forever.
–That’s a statement that long time fans will be happy to hear.
Okada: There are fans who loved pro wrestling a long time ago and fell away from it. Maybe they started watching MMA during that boom and didn’t come back. Part of our job is to make those fans that fell away come back in, while making sure the people that stayed with us the whole time are glad they did. To do that we fight with everything we have, put on the hardest fought and best matches possible.
–To bring it back around to Wrestle Kingdom, your final thoughts on your title defence.
Okada: For now, I’m not thinking about January 5. For now, it’s all about fighting at that IWGP Championship level, amazing the fans live, and amazing the fans watching on NJPW World. Ibushi will absolutely have that same mindset. I think we’re going to have a hell of a match.
–How do you plan to bring NJPW forward into 2020?
Okada: Well, first of all, I don’t want us to lose out to the Olympics. I don’t know what the schedule is looking like in the new year just yet, but I do know that in 2019, I did it all in the ring, took match of the year, and took the MVP award. So I don’t want people to go around saying ‘Okada was better in 2019’. I don’t want to lose out to myself, I want to keep booming in 2020, keep wrestling booming in 2020, and for the whole business to have a great year.
