There is a new IWGP world heavyweight champion in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, as Sanada defeated Kazuchika Okada to start his first reign with the belt.
In a match clocking in at just over 26 minutes, Sanada completed a seven-year journey to the top of New Japan last Saturday. In the finishing sequence at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Sanada countered Okada’s Rainmaker with his Deadfall to crown himself the new champion.
Wearing new trunks and a new robe, and arriving to a new entrance song, Sanada cemented his place in New Japan history with the victory.
“I didn’t really feel a big change in Sanada leading up to the match,” says Okada, speaking through a translator. “But in the match itself, I really felt it wasn’t just his gear that had changed his attitude toward the match itself. He had a never-give-up attitude; I think that’s key to why I lost to him.”
Even without the belt, Okada remains the face of New Japan. And he is still in the title hunt, albeit for a different piece of gold.
“For now, I want to focus on tag wrestling,” says Okada. “I think Sanada’s challenge will be to be recognized by every wrestling fan as the champion. But then again, he did beat me, so that should be easy.”
Okada will team with longtime rival Hiroshi Tanahashi on Saturday at New Japan’s Capital Collision show in Washington, D.C. It is a triple-threat match against Strong openweight tag champions Motor City Machine Guns and newly crowned IWGP tag champs Aussie Open, who won the belts last weekend at Sakura Genesis.
The Strong openweight titles are on the line at Capital Collision. If they can win, it would add a compelling new chapter to the storied rivalry between Okada and Tanahashi.
“I think it will be an interesting story for the two of us,” says Okada. “I just wrestled him [in February] at Battle in the Valley, and it was important to me to have a title match with Tanahashi. I feel like now I’ve wrestled him in pretty much any situation. We’ve been bettering each other since 2012; we have such a story together. And I think tagging with him will be a great experience for me to grow as a wrestler.”
The Motor City Machine Guns’ Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley are extraordinary together, and Aussie Open’s Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis are quickly making their imprint in the global tag scene. This is an appointment-viewing main event, and it will be fascinating to see Okada and Tanahashi work with each other.
“I think it’s important to be a strong team,” says Okada. “We both have the skills as single wrestlers, but it’s the teamwork side we need to work on.”
Returning to the United States is an honor for Okada. He has fond memories here, especially winning the IWGP heavyweight title at Madison Square Garden in 2019.
“For me, it means we can get more people in the world to know about New Japan Pro-Wrestling,” says Okada. “I don’t think that all American wrestling fans know me or New Japan, so I want to show them how great New Japan Pro-Wrestling is whenever I can.”
Justin Barrasso can be reached at JBarrasso@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinBarrasso.
