NJPW: How The Rise Of Jay White Led To Kazuchika Okada’s New Rainmaker Era

The Fall of Kazuchika Okada

There may be no single wrestler more synonymous with the IWGP Heavyweight Title than Kazuchika Okada. Yes, of course, Tanahashi is the true Ace of the Universe and I’ll be yelling “GO ACE!” until I’m in the grave, but it’s hard to argue against a man who has enjoyed such a lengthy stay on top of the New Japan roster.

Beginning on June 19, 2016, and lasting for 720 days, Kazuchika Okada dominated as the IWGP Heavyweight Champion. He smashed the record for the longest reign by over 200 days and just edged out Tanahashi with the most defenses in a single reign at 12 to Tana’s 11.

In total, across his 5 reigns, Okada has held the title for over 1,500 days – a record which once again pushes him just ahead of Tanahashi.

Being IWGP Heavyweight Champion became as much a way of living for Okada as breathing, eating, and sleeping. Not only did it become such a regular part of life, but the names Okada left in his wake were a who’s who of New Japan’s biggest stars.

After defeating Naito for the title, Okada successfully defended against Tanahashi, Minoru Suzuki, Kenny Omega, and Katsuyori Shibata among others. With the impressive list of names having fallen to the Rainmaker, it became more and more apparent that Okada was the man and nobody else could hold a candle to him.

That all changed on June 9, 2018. At the very same event at which he won the championship and in the very same building, just 2 years later, Okada fell 2 falls to 1 against Kenny Omega in one of the greatest matches in professional wrestling history.

Despite the contest having been hard-fought by both men, and Okada having nothing to be ashamed of in losing, the absence of the IWGP Heavyweight Title from around the Rainmaker’s waist began to show its effects.

Okada quickly spiraled into a broken version of who had once dominated New Japan.

He traded in his blond locks for often shoddily dyed red hair, the Okada Bucks falling from the sky for balloons released into the crowd (only after beating Rocky Romero with them on commentary), and his cool confidence for the hesitant demeanor leading him to a second-place finish in his G1 block behind eventual winner Tanahashi.

Not only did Okada suffer an overall loss in the tournament, he took another step away from the days of the Rainmaker when he announced, at the close of G1 28, that Gedo would no longer accompany him to the ring as his manager.

With CHAOS already feeling as though it was teetering on the brink of disaster and Jay White ascending further and further up the New Japan card, the Gedo separation may have been the breaking point for everything that was still yet to come.

With Weird Okada taking shape and the idea of a mole within CHAOS creating uncertainty throughout the group, The Rainmaker simply lost his footing on his climb back to the top. He went on to fail in capturing the G1 Briefcase from Tanahashi at Destruction In Kobe before the picture for Wrestle Kingdom came into full focus.