Kazuchika Okada will soon make his first appearance for TNA Wrestling since 2011.
Impact Wrestling will become TNA Wrestling once again next month. Various aspects of the company are already reverting to the TNA branding and the first pay-per-view of the new era is TNA Hard To Kill on Saturday, January 13 from The Palms in Las Vegas.
The following night, TNA is running another show from the same venue, Snake Eyes. Impact/TNA recently announced the blockbuster news that NJPW/AEW star Will Ospreay will get his wish and wrestle in a TNA ring at Snake Eyes. It turns out, Ospreay won’t be coming alone.
.@rainmakerXokada RETURNS to TNA at #SnakeEyes at The Palms on Sunday, January 14th!
Get tickets and be there LIVE: https://t.co/uIMNT4ffq6#IMPACTonAXSTV pic.twitter.com/clys9Xtqvz
— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) December 8, 2023
Okada in TNA
Okada wrestled for TNA a few times in 2010 and 2011. Associating with Samoa Joe, he played a character named Okato, who was similar to Green Hornet’s sidekick Kato. Years later, Okada shared strong negative feelings about the experience. The connection between NJPW and IMPACT was harmed by this role. However, neither company, nor Okada himself, are the same as they were over a decade ago.
BREAKING: @rainmakerXokada returns to TNA on January 14 at #SnakeEyes at the Palms in Las Vegas! @njpwglobal
Get tickets HERE: https://t.co/uIMNT4ffq6 pic.twitter.com/ONIXdcTLsj
— TNA Wrestling (@ThisIsTNA) December 8, 2023
Okada currently holds one-third of the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championships with Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tomohiro Ishii. This marks his first time he has held the title.
Okada will be a free agent at the end of January and recent reports suggest that a new deal with NJPW “would typically be underway”, but the former IWGP Heavyweight Champion is “seriously entertaining the possibility of wrestling for a different promotion.”