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Kazuchika Okada

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Kazuchika Okada (岡田 和睦 Okada Kazuchika, ring name: オカダ・カズチカ) (born November 8, 1987) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is the current IWGP Heavyweight Champion, in his fifth reign. Okada's fourth reign with the championship is the longest in history, at 720 days; he also holds the record for most successful title defenses at 12 title defenses.

Initially trained by Último Dragón and making his debut in August 2004, Okada spent his first years in professional wrestling working in Mexico, before returning to Japan and making NJPW his home promotion in mid-2007. Originally working as a junior heavyweight, Okada graduated to the heavyweight division in April 2008, with limited success. In February 2010, NJPW sent Okada on a learning excursion to American promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he ended up spending the next twenty months, mainly performing on the promotion's secondary television program, Xplosion. From January to March 2011, now performing under the ring name Okato, he was featured on TNA's primary television program, iMPACT!, as Samoa Joe's sidekick in his rivalry with D'Angelo Dinero.

Okada's run with TNA ended in October 2011 and he returned to NJPW in January 2012, repackaged as "Rainmaker" (レインメーカー Reinmēkā), complete with a new look and a villainous persona. Just a month later, Okada defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi to win NJPW's top title, the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, which he would hold for four months before losing it back to Tanahashi. The following August, Okada won NJPW's premier tournament, the G1 Climax. At the end of the year, the Tokyo Sports magazine named Okada the 2012 MVP in all of Japanese professional wrestling. The following year, Okada first won the New Japan Cup in March and then regained the IWGP Heavyweight Championship from Tanahashi in April. After a thirteen-month reign, Okada lost the title in May 2014. Three months later, he won his second G1 Climax. Okada has since won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship three more times and headlined NJPW's biggest annual event—the January 4 Tokyo Dome Show—five times (2013, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018).

In 2017, Okada became the first Japanese wrestler to top Pro Wrestling Illustrated's list of the top 500 wrestlers in the world; he is regarded as one of the world's best professional wrestlers. His matches against Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom 11, Dominion 6.11 in Osaka-jo Hall and Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall (all for NJPW's IWGP Heavyweight Championship), as well as the semi-finals of the 2017 G1 Climax earning a respective 6, 6¼, 6, and 7 stars from Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter respectively. The 7 star match is currently the highest star rating Meltzer has ever awarded.

In wrestling[]

  • Finishing moves
    • Cobra clutch
    • Rainmaker (Wrist-lock transitioned into a short-arm lariat)
  • Signature moves
    • German suplex
    • Backdrop suplex
    • DDT
    • DID – Deep In Debt (Arm trap inverted three-quarter facelock)
    • Diving elbow drop
    • Dropkick
    • Flapjack
    • Heavy Rain (Modified Death Valley bomb)
    • Modified osotogar
    • Red Ink (Kneeling cross-legged STF)
    • Reverse Neckbreaker (Over-the-shoulder back-to-belly neckbreaker)
    • Senton Atomico (Slingshot somersault senton)
    • Tombstone piledriver
  • Managers
    • Gedo
  • Nicknames
    • "The Rainmaker"
    • "Shin Jidai no Ace"
    • "Chōjin"
  • Entrance themes
    • New Japan-Pro Wrestling
      • "Cefiro & Radio Comeback (Seishun Saikai)" by Maximum the Hormone
      • "Kick It, That Makes Me Funk" by Yonosuke Kitamura
      • "RAIN MAKER" by Yonosuke Kitamura
      • "Rain Maker: 20130104" by Yonosuke Kitamura
      • "RAIN MAKER" (2014 Edit) by Yonosuke Kitamura
      • "RAIN MAKER -Tokyo Dome 2017 ver.-" by Yonosuke Kitamura
      • "RAIN MAKER -DOMINION 6.11 ver.-" by Yonosuke Kitamura
      • "RAIN MAKER -WK12 ver.-" by Yonosuke Kitamura
      • "RAINMAKER -laevatein- (2018)" by Yonosuke Kitamura
      • "RAINMAKER -NEXTLEVEL-" by Yonosuke Kitamura
      • "RAINMAKER -2020DomeVer.-" by Yonosuke Kitamura Feat. Eiki
    • Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
      • "Omori" by Dale Oliver
      • "No Limit Theme" by Dale Oliver
    • Ring of Honor
      • "RAIN MAKER" by Yonosuke Kitamura
      • "RAINMAKER -laevatein- (2018)" by Yonosuke Kitamura
      • "RAINMAKER -NEXTLEVEL-" by Yonosuke Kitamura

Championships and accomplishments[]

  • CBS Sports
    • Match of the Year (2018) – vs. Kenny Omega (Dominion 6.9)
  • New Japan Pro-Wrestling
    • IWGP Heavyweight Championship (5 times)
    • IWGP World Heavyweight Championship (1 time, current)
    • G1 Climax (2012, 2014, 2021)
    • New Japan Cup (2013, 2019)
    • Best Bout (2017) – vs. Kenny Omega (June 11)
  • Nikkan Sports
    • MVP Award (2012, 2013, 2015, 2017)
    • Match of the Year Award (2012) – vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (February 12)
    • Match of the Year Award (2014) – vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (August 10)
    • Match of the Year Award (2017) – vs. Kenny Omega (January 4)
    • Match of the Year Award (2018) – vs. Kenny Omega (June 9)
    • Outstanding Performance Award (2012)
  • Pro Wrestling Illustrated
    • Ranked #1 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2017
    • Feud of the Year (2017) – vs. Kenny Omega
    • Match of the Year (2017) – vs. Kenny Omega (Wrestle Kingdom 11)
    • Match of the Year (2018) – vs. Kenny Omega (Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall)
  • Tokyo Sports
    • Best Bout Award (2012) – vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (June 16)
    • Best Bout Award (2014) – vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (August 10)
    • Best Bout Award (2015) – vs. Genichiro Tenryu (November 15)
    • Best Bout Award (2016) – vs. Naomichi Marufuji (July 18)
    • Best Bout Award (2017) – vs. Kenny Omega (January 4)
    • Best Bout Award (2018) – vs. Kenny Omega (June 9)
    • Best Bout Award (2019) – vs. Sanada (October 14)
    • Best Bout Award (2020) – vs. Tetsuya Naito (Wrestle Kingdom 14)
    • MVP Award (2012, 2013, 2015, 2019)
  • Toryumon Mexico
    • Young Dragons Cup (2005)
  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter
    • Best Wrestling Maneuver (2012, 2013) – Rainmaker
    • Feud of the Year (2012, 2013) – vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
    • Feud of the Year (2017) – vs. Kenny Omega
    • Most Improved (2012)
    • Most Outstanding Wrestler (2017)
    • Match of the Year (2013) – vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (April 7)
    • Match of the Year (2016) – vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (January 4)
    • Match of the Year (2017) – vs. Kenny Omega (January 4)
    • Match of the Year (2018) – vs. Kenny Omega (June 9)
    • Wrestler of the Year (2017)
    • Japan MVP (2019)
    • Best Matches of the Decade (2010s)
    • Most Outstanding Wrestler of the Decade (2010s)
    • Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame
      • Class of 2021
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