What Happened After Kazuchika Okada NJPW Farewell Match

NJPW

Here’s what happened in Kazuchika Okada’s NJPW farewell appearance, with Okada finishing up with the company at New Beginning in Sapporo.

Okada wrestled his final NJPW match at the February 24 New Beginning in Sapporo show, teaming with Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI to face off against Francesco Akira, Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb, Matt Riddle and Callum Newman.

Okada ultimately scored the fall for his team, pinning Newman after a Rainmaker clothesline to win the match.

The Rainmaker’s night didn’t end here however, with IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito inviting Okada into the ring following the main event of the show.

After Naito spat in Okada’s face, the duo attempted to attack each other before reaching a stalemate, indicating that their rivalry isn’t done, even if Okada’s time in NJPW is up.

NJPW noted the following in a post-match report:

First to depart on the day was Okada, teaming with CHAOS brethren against United Empire and Matt Riddle, confirmed by Jeff Cobb backstage not to be a part of the group, for the time being at least. With none of the UE team wanting Okada to get away from NJPW with a win, the Rainmaker was a target of the match.

Although Callum Newman, alone at the end, gave a firm accounting of himself, it was a Rainmaker that saw Okada carry his torch out of the cerulean blue.

His final farewell came after Tetsuya Naito’s main event victory, the IWGP WORLD heavyweight Champion extending a fist for a teary Rainmaker to bump, only to deliver a spit in the face.

After a swift exchange of attempted holds, they parted with Naito offering a wry backstage comment of ‘until we meet again’.

You can watch a clip of the confrontation below.

With it believed that Okada is AEW-bound, it has been speculated that the Japanese star could make an appearance at AEW’s Dynamite Big Business special on March 13.

Another star who’s potentially WWE-bound also wrestled their final match at New Beginning in Sapporo, which you can read more about right here.

You can watch Okada and Naito’s goodbye below:

.@s_d_naito × @rainmakerXokada

Sign up Now & Stay tuned to https://t.co/9iZJzPgCfN#njnbg #NJPW #njpwworld pic.twitter.com/etxxnWuSNg

— NJPW WORLD (@njpwworld) February 24, 2024

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• NJPW
• Kazuchika Okada
• Tetsuya Naito
• departure
• Farewell

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