Kazuchika Okada isn't sweating Tetsuya Naito, despite his growing popularity with the fans.
The IWGP Heavyweight champion spoke to New Japan's website following his successful title defense against EVIL at King of Pro Wrestling. He talked about Naito's promo and the negative reaction he got from the crowd.
"The fans are everything" said Okada. "For them to make that much noise gets me excited. And.. I don't know why, but there were some boos toward me in there. I don't get it. He was droning on, and it was my time to talk. I won in the main event, I should talk. Why boo me?"
He did admit that the chants Naito got during his appearance at the end of the show were bigger, but he said that was to be expected.
"I think the Naito chants were louder" he told the site. "Look, I get it. People want to see something new. But that's what every challenger hopes to bring, and they always lose. Hey, it's fine. Pin those hopes for something new on him, give him energy to come at me with. Sorry though, it's going to be me on top in the end. It's a long road to the Tokyo Dome. There's no title defenses before then, but I'll still bring it to anyone that comes at me. In this game, I'm the final boss"
When asked if he was confident against facing Naito, Okada was blunt.
"Absolutely" he replied. It's not necessarily about Naito, but the fact I'm Champion and I've been champion this long. I've competed at a different level as a wrestler. That's where that confidence comes from."
With Okada successfully defending the title against EVIL, and Naito successfully defending his briefcase against Tomohiro Ishii, both are officially confirmed to headline WrestleKingdom 12 on January 4 for the IWGP Heavyweight title.
