Kazuchika Okada Looking For Revenge Against Bryan Danielson
Kazuchika Okada is ready for his rematch against Bryan Danielson, but he’s hoping for a different result this time.
In the main event on the AEW-NJPW Forbidden Door 2023 pay-per-view in Toronto, two of the greatest pro wrestlers of their era, or any era, faced off in a dream match as Bryan Danielson competed against Kazuchika Okada.
Wrestling fans waited a long time to see the matchup between two former World Champions since Danielson worked for WWE from 2010 to 2021 before going to AEW in late 2021. By going to AEW, it meant the match could happen since AEW worked with NJPW.
At Forbidden Door 2023, Bryan Danielson got the win over Kazuchika Okada because Danielson applied a submission on Okada’s arms, which he pulled back on and Okada tapped out to lose the match. Amazingly, Danielson won the match while also working with a broken arm for the final ten minutes.
The Okada-Danielson rematch will take place at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18 on Thursday, January 4th at the Tokyo Dome in Okada’s home country of Japan.
While speaking to NJPW’s official YouTube channel, Okada spoke about the importance of getting his win back against Danielson.
“I wanted to challenge him, so he helped me out. It’s a chance for revenge. There have been no preview matches, so it’s a bit tough to hype up and maybe fans feel the same. But when you feel the atmosphere on the entrances, then you’ll know what a big deal this match is and that’s when I’ll be pumped up as well.”
“I lost against one of the best in the world, that makes NJPW look bad and all of Japan look bad. So, I need to get revenge for that. I know he broke his arm and fractured his orbital, but I lost to him. Tapped out. Last time he had the home promotion advantage, now it’s my home. So it seems only right I get the win back.”
Danielson has spoken about wanting to break Okada’s arm like Okada did to Danielson, so Okada is daring his rival to try it.
“He should go ahead and try to do it. I can dropkick on a broken leg, rainmaker with a broken arm. If he thinks he can do it, I want him to try.”
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18 Will Feature Kazuchika Okada Against Bryan Danielson
The full lineup for Wrestle Kingdom 18 can be seen below.
* IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: SANADA (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito
* Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada
* IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship: Will Ospreay vs. Jon Moxley vs. David Finlay
* IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: Hiromu Takahashi (c) vs. El Desperado
* NEVER Openweight Championship: Shingo Takagi (c) vs. Tama Tonga
* IWGP Jr Tag Championship: Bullet Club War Dogs (c) vs. Catch 2/2
* NJPW World Television Championship: Zack Sabre Jr (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
* IWGP Tag & STRONG Openweight Tag Team Championships: Bishamon (IWGP Tag) vs. Hikuleo & El Phantasmo (STRONG Openweight Tag)
* Kaito Kiyomiya & Shota Umino vs. HOUSE OF TORTURE (EVIL & Ren Narita)
* Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura
* Kickoff: KOPW 2024 New Japan Ranbo
You can watch NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18 on NJPW World.