Former NJPW star Kazuchika Okada recently revealed that “he has no intentions of never coming back to New Japan”. Reports have suggested that The Rainmaker would leave NJPW as he aims to concentrate on his upcoming career phase. Outlining the fact that he would never return to the Japanese promotion has definitely hurt some fans and leaves a question of how sour the relationship between the board and the star is.
The race to sign the legendary NJPW star was always going to be a hot one. Now AEW has not only gained an upper hand but is also hoping to have Okada debut at the earliest.
Kazuchika Okada to be finally unveiled as ALL ELITE next week?
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After fulfilling all his commitments with New Japan, Okada will step on the American scene for the first time as a free agent. Fightful Select has revealed the Florida-based company is “hoping and tentatively planning” the debut to be on next week’s Dynamite. It will be the fallout show after their Revolution PPV.
Per Fightful, AEW has been tentatively planning for Kazuchika Okada's arrival by March 6 Dynamite next week!
Which means we're likely getting two huge debuts back to back weeks.
March 6: Okada (Duluth, Georgia)
March 13: Mercedes (Big Bu$iness) pic.twitter.com/EndlfYrL6X— Drainmaker 🌧️ 💵 (@DrainBamager) February 29, 2024
Other reports during the media call for the AEW Revolution PPV also revealed some additional plans. Tony Khan said, “that there’s something he’s very excited about coming to Atlanta for next week’s edition of Dynamite.” Nevertheless, bigger and brighter things are on the horizon for the Florida-based promotion as they look to usher in a new dawn with several enticing appearances. In fact, AEW head honcho Tony Khan has laid out expectations of raking in additional revenue during a recent media interaction.
Tony Khan expects an enormous increase in revenue
During the media call for the AEW Revolution PPV, he was asked about the new media deals for the weekly show. Khan says “Dynamite, Collision, and Rampage will all be getting huge, huge increases, I can say for sure.” With the potential signing of game changers like Okada and Sasha Banks, one can expect Khan to negotiate better deals for the product. Weekly shows for AEW have shown major growth in viewership. The PPV sales have always been great for AEW. Now Khan hopes fresh additions will bring in the much-needed boost in ratings for weekly shows to compete with WWE. He also expects to rake in additional revenue as AEW increases its count of PPVs from last year.
Read More: Amidst Kazuchika Okada Rumors, Another NJPW Star Reportedly WWE Bound
Tony Khan also believes that 2025 will be the year when “AEW will finally make a name from itself as an established company rather than being a startup.” Exciting things are on the horizon for the promotion and if the execution is right, Khan’s forecast about his company could come true as we go full steam ahead in 2024.
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2024 has a lot more positives for Khan and AEW. But will it continue to be the case till 2025? we will soon find out.
Read More: Why Ric Flair and Sting’s Reunion Makes Perfect Sense for AEW Revolution 2024?
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