The Summer Olympics are scheduled to take place in Tokyo, Japan from July 23rd to August 8th, 2021. Kazuchika Okada recently served as a torch bearer in the official Olympic torch relay.
Okada posted the following to Instagram of him posing with the torch:
“Everybody was waving and smiling as I made my run, so I wanted to return those smiles right back to them. It was a fantastic experience,” Okada said. Â
Kazuchika Okada holds the record for the most combined title defenses (30) and days spent with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship (1790). The title was recently unified with the Intercontinental Championship as the IWGP World Championship. Okada has been largely out of the title picture since dropping the belt to Tetsuya Naito on January 5th, 2020 on the second night of Wrestle Kingdom 14. He’ll challenge again for the belt on May 29th.
Upcoming Lineups In NJPW
The following matches are upcoming in NJPW:
April 28th: Wrestling Satsuma no Kuni – Night 1
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships
SHO & YOH (c) vs El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru - KOPW 2021
Toru Yano vs EVIL - Will Ospreay, The Great-O-Khan, Aaron Henare & Jeff Cobb vs. Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & BUSHI
- Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato vs. Yujiro Takahashi, Taiji Ishimori & Gedo
- Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr. & DOUKI vs. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Jado
- Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura vs. Gabriel Kidd & Tiger Mask IV
April 29th – Wrestling Satsuma no Kuni – Night 2
- Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kota Ibushi vs. Aaron Henare & Jeff Cobb
- Will Ospreay & The Great-O-Khan vs. Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito
- Toru Yano, Master Wato, Ryusuke Taguchi & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, Taiji Ishimori & Dick Togo
- Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr. & DOUKI vs. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, & Jado
- SHO, YOH & Tiger Mask IV vs. El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Minoru Suzuki
- SANADA & BUSHI vs. Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura
May 3rd – Wrestling Dontaku – Night 1
- NEVER Openweight Championship
Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs Jay White - Iron Finger from Hell
ladder match (2nd ever in NJPW history)
Taichi vs. Tama Tonga - Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Tanga Loa
- Will Ospreay, The Great-O-Khan, Aaron Henare & Jeff Cobb vs. Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & BUSHI
- Kazuchika Okada, SHO & YOH vs. Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
- Toru Yano, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Tiger Mask IV & Master Wato vs. EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, Taiji Ishimori & Dick Togo
May 4th – Wrestling Dontaku – Night 2
- IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
Will Ospreay (c) vs Shingo Takagi - IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
El Desperado (c) vs YOH - Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toru Yano, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato vs. Jay White, EVIL, KENTA, Yujiro Takahashi & Taiji Ishimori
- Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & BUSHI vs. The Great-O-Khan, Aaron Henare & Jeff Cobb
- Kazuchika Okada & SHO vs. Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
- Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr. & DOUKI vs. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Jado
The winner of Will Ospreay vs Shingo Takagi will go on to face Kazuchika Okada for the belt on May 29th at Wrestle Grand Slam inside the Tokyo Dome.
