Reason Why Kazuchika Okada Chose AEW Revealed

On this past Wednesday’s edition of AEW Dynamite, Kazuchika Okada arrived as an official member of All Elite Wrestling after signing with the company following his exit from NJPW. This had been rumoured for some time, though there was some back and forth in the news over whether he’d end up in WWE or in AEW.

With his decision being made and with him signing a reported huge multi-million dollar deal with AEW, more reports have emerged on why he settled with AEW and agreed a deal with Tony Khan’s company. SI’s Justin Barrasso has reported that there were a few factors into Okada wanting to be in AEW, namely working with The Elite.

Working on AEW programming with The Young Bucks, whom he is familiar and friends with, in addition to reigniting his feud with Kenny Omega, was supposedly a big pull. It is also stated that Okada has trust in AEW owner Tony Khan, especially after previously competing in the company. Even though Okada reportedly wanted to compete at WrestleMania, not having to relocate from Japan to work with AEW and the ease of going back and forth was another factor. Despite WWE’s claims of not reaching out to Okada, this report suggests that Okada did at least have some interest, but ultimately chose AEW.