IWGP Heavyweight Champion Okada spoke to NJPW's official website following his highly-touted match with Kenny Omega.
Despite walking away with his championship, the New Japan Ace says that Kenny Omega was able to push him to his limits at NJPW Dominion.
“It’s all too much. I never thought I’d have an opponent that took me to the 60 minute mark, let alone beyond that and not be beaten. He took me to my limits, past them. It was a real surprise. …I’m sore, I’m weak, my hands feel numb. Obviously I took a lot of punishment, but as time went on, it became harder and harder to stand, I was spaghetti legged. It was my first 60 minute match, but it was hard fought all the way. And Kenny too- I can’t honestly say ‘We drew at 60, but if we had 70 minutes I would have beaten him.’ I just don’t know. That’s how tough Kenny was. I haven’t felt that way about an opponent for a long time," said Okada of the match.
Now Okada looks ahead to July, and NJPW's G1 Special is on the horizon.
"I want to have a match that says ‘This is New Japan Pro Wrestling.’ The American fans want that, and of course the Japanese fans will be watching on NJPW World. To Japanese fans maybe it’s the same NJPW, but it has a different nuance to bring that to America. I want to show the level of an IWGP title match and have people say ‘Come back to LA’ or ‘Come to New York.’ Basically to have people all over the world wanting us to bring our product there. This is the first step toward that," said Okada.
Fightful.com will have live live coverage of NJPW's G1 Special July 1 and 2.
