NJPW legend Kazuchika Okada will soon depart the Japanese promotion and a couple of farewell matches in NJPW have been announced.
As Kazuchika Okada is finishing up his career in Japan, NJPW has announced full cards for their upcoming New Beginning in Sapporo on February 23 and 24.
‘The Rainmaker’ will soon decide his next destination. WWE and AEW have been in the race to obtain his services. In the increasingly competitive wrestling war between WWE and AEW, Okada is one of the hottest free agents in the market.
As it seems, he could soon be a part of the AEW roster. However, ahead of that, he will compete in a couple of matches for NJPW.
Okada’s two matches have been announced
Okada is set to team with his fellow CHAOS stablemates in two 10-man tag team matches against members of the United Empire.
On February 23, Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, and YOH will take on Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan, Aaron Henare, Francesco Akira, and Callum Newman.
In his final match with the company on February 24, Okada will team with Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ishii, Goto, and YOSHI-HASHI against Matt Riddle, Cobb, Great-O-Khan, Henare, and Akira.
Meanwhile, Tama Tonga will have his final match with NJPW on February 24 as well. He will join forces with Tanga Loa to take on fellow Guerillas of Destiny stablemates Hikuleo and ELP.
The singles match between El Desperado and SHO on February 23 has been announced as a title match after SHO stole the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title during The New Beginning in Osaka on Sunday.
Card for NJPW The New Beginning in Sapporo, Friday, February 23:
- IWGP Global Champion David Finlay defends against Nic Nemeth
- NJPW World TV Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi defends against Matt Riddle
- NEVER Openweight Champion EVIL defends against Shota Umino
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion El Desperado defends against SHO
- IWGP Women’s Champion Mayu Iwatani vs. Mina Shirakawa
- Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tsuji, and BUSHI vs. SANADA, Taka Michinoku, Yuya Uemura, DOUKI, and Taka Michinoku
- Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, and YOH vs. Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan, Henare, Francesco Akira, and Callum Newman
- Ryusuke Taguchi, Togi Makabe, and Boltin Oleg vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Yujiro Takahashi, and Ren Narita
- Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Yuji Nagata
- Toru Yano & Tomoya vs. Tomoaki Honma & Katsuya Murashima
Card for NJPW The New Beginning in Sapporo, Saturday, February 24 —
- IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito defends against SANADA
- Hair vs. hair: Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura
- Shingo Takagi vs. Taichi
- Hiromu Takahashi vs. DOUKI
- BUSHI vs. TAKA Michinoku
- Nic Nemeth & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. David Finlay & Gedo
- Guerillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) vs. Guerillas of Destiny (El Phantasmo and Hikuleo)
- Kazuchika Okada’s NJPW farewell match: Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto, and YOSHI-HASHI vs. Matt Riddle, Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan, Henare, and Francesco Akira
- Shota Umino, El Desperado, Togi Makabe, YOH, and Boltin Oleg vs. EVIL, SHO, Ren Narita, Dick Togo, and Yujiro Takahashi
- Toru Yano & Tomoya vs. Tomoaki Honma & Katsuya Murashima