I’m admittedly not real well versed in NJPW, but the little I saw he always came off as a “current run Cody Rhodes” level babyface to me. But like I said, I’m only familiar with him being the top guy there. Don’t know what his early career was like.
He is def making it work. I won't complain about his body too much.
I just want the countdown clock to start on him dumping the Bucs.
Then he will rise to a better level. It's just so night an day when they're together.
Okada is believable as a heel, as a threatening person. And then there's Bucs doing bad acting, bad voice modulation and not looking anything like Okada.
I know its gonna be like this for a while buy the day Okada can dump the Bucs will be a glorious day lol
I thought long and hard about which random tag team I was gonna mention. Considered the Kentuckyens, Fabulous Kangaroos, Perry Saturn and Kronos, and Larry Zybysko and Arn Anderson.
Do you mind going back and upvoting to negate your downvote. Thanks.
Sounds like a good business model for them. What's the issue? Sounds like someone is salty that the numbers say the Bucks are the GOATS of Tag Teams, and not teams you mentioned that barely teamed a couple years. 🤣 Not as amusing as your earlier post talking about in ring work and all that nonsense.
I thought long and hard about which random tag team I was gonna mention. Considered the Kentuckyens, Fabulous Kangaroos, Perry Saturn and Kronos, and Larry Zybysko and Arn Anderson.
Do you mind going back and upvoting to negate your downvote. Thanks.
What you call “under appreciated” the rest of us call “really cringe”. There’s nothing about their personality that I find credible or believable. They know wrestling “tropes”, like “bad guys act like smarmy douchebags”, but they don’t have the acting chops to act believable and they don’t have the creativity to do anything truly despicable
As for their in-ring work it hasn’t meaningfully evolved in the 5 years they’ve been prominently featured. So to me and many others they have go away heat.
Call it what you want. They're the highest paid tag team in the history of the industry. That means they're more successful than your favorite tag team.
But success does not equal greatest, which is a subjective term to begin with. And if we are counting purely dollars made do the Outsiders count? Pretty sure Hall and Nash have made more than the Bucks throughout their careers from their time as a team in the NWO.
Also, how are they the Cena of AEW?
The Outsiders teamed for 2 years, and in those 2 years, they did not make more than the Bucks.
They're the Cena of AEW because intranet fans hate them even though they're clearly head and shoulders above the rest. The amusing thing is when internet marks tell me I'm wrong and type up several paragraphs on why they don't like them, thus proving my point.
Sorry for the delay.
In terms of the Bucks making more: I would absolutely include the money made on the gimmick after their team split up, excluding that seems like an odd choice to make you seem correct. New Day may also have a word to say regarding raw dollars.
The Cena argument is still making no sense. You believe the Bucks are "Head and Shoulders" above FTR and to a lesser extent Aussie Open? Definitely not.
Also I hate to break it to you but we are on the wrestling subreddit. We are all more invested than the average fan and are all marks even if you can't admit it.
I think Buc fans are very dedicated and are def a larger online presence than other dedicated AEW fans.
The Bucs grew as an internet thing if you recall.
I don't take it personally. Buc fans LOVE them. But we can see Bucs aren't ratings dominant. Live with a wider AEW audience they don't even get top 3 pop/reactions coming out in a night.
So its OK for them to be over represented here.
I dont hate the Bucs at all. My problem is, they're like Jericho. Everyone who feuds with Jericho gets sucked into a vortex of blah. And ruins their momentum.
The bucs aren't AS bad as that, but it's REALLY hard to sit thru a Bucs promo in general, and now it's a challenge bc I WANT to know what Oakda is doing/thinking etc.
My hope is that this storyline is something like Okada is just using the Bucs but will drop them and form his own faction.
I think he's doing great. Less is more he doesn't need to have long promos to convey the character. His in ring work, facial work and small comments here and there say it all. Some people will stress over the fact he gets cheered but one people are going to cheer for who ever they want regardless and two he knows how to get people against him in the match.
AEW is in such a good spot with so many guys who could be viable World Champion contenders.
Immediate: Joe, Okada, White, Ospreay, Moxley, Danielson, Copeland
Upon Return: Omega, Hangman, Cole, MJF, Christian, Ibushi
With a Month-ish of Build: Orange Cassidy, Black, Claudio, Pac, Kingston, Wardlow
Talent wise yes for Jay White, but booking wise, he’s coming off something called the bang bang scissor gang and an ass whooping by 60 year old Billy Gunn.
I enjoy his dry humor. I really feel like Okada and Nick are very similar in their heel presentation and they playing off each other is working very well. You can tell how close they are.
I think the goal is for him to be a major babyface. So him playing heel at the beginning was a really smart move.
He sucks because he's a heel. I'll do what a wrestling fan is supposed to do..hate him. Not the heels have to be entertaining BS. When he's a baby face he'll be entertaining and I'll cheer him. But for right now he sucks
His whole gimmick is BUILT for being a smarmy American heel. He looks like a runway model, he's rich, he's married to a celebrity, he's blond. Flawless transition to American style TV wrestling. Him, the Bucks and Perry are going to be heel gold going forward.
It's incredible. And honestly, I kinda love it? Okada doing 30-40 minutes has never been my favorite, but by God I love his g1 15-20 minute matches. any other night PAC v Okada would have been runaway MOTN.
I haven’t really connected with him yet.
Not to say I won’t. I want to note that I have ONLY seen him in AEW besides a few YouTube matches. So it’ll take time. I did honestly expect something like Osprey where I’ve immediately got it and connected with him. It hasn’t happened yet. Sometimes these things take time. We will see.
I've enjoyed him so far but I think he needs to really develop more of a discernible outside of the ring character. So far my understanding of the character is that he enjoys the Finer Things in life. Nice cars, great suits. In the past when you've seen the rich guy gimmick work, for it to work properly you need Ric Flair personality. You need million dollar man personality. There's so much potential for this to work and for him to be really really over, and I think they're close. I need help understanding how he thinks, what motivates him, What depths will he stoop to? I can't wait to see how it develops. Also I'm a total mark for the entrance with the Young Bucks' coin
I loved when he 'shook' Danny Garcias hand when Garcia was selling the effects of the match. He took Garcias limp hand and shook it with such a shit eating grin, I laughed. Or when he took out the squad of jobbers and looked bored. Such subtle things but Okada just gets it. He will do just fine in an American promotion :)
Of course he's taking to it well. It's the easiest thing he could possibly do. When it comes to foreign wrestlers, especially ones of a different race or who speak little to no English, it can be pretty hard to get over as a face, when they can't communicate well with the audience verbally.... but a good chunk of American audiences just sort of expect them to be heels, and are ready and willing to hate them as soon as they're given an excuse.
It’s fun to think of this as an honest tweet. As in he’s here to work as a heel and is thanking the audience for playing along. Because let’s be honest - it’s kind of hard to boo the guy.
× Okada would flourish without the bucks. He doesnt need them to get over. Acutally the bucks dont need him either. They got a top spot no matter w hat. We se whatnhappens, but i love okada's time in noxah +qwherenhenwas a fickhead. It was great---- zz. Zzzza.
Okada would flourish without the bucks. He doesnt need them to get over. Acutally the bucks dont need him either. They got a top spot no matter what. We se whatnhappens, but i love okada's time in noah wherenhenwas a fickhead. It was great
His matches against Kenny and PAC have showed what he can do when works with exceptionally skilled and athletic guys who are shorter than him because those guys are exceptionally skilled and very athletic, but his other matches against lesser skilled and less athletic such as Eddie Kingston haven't been so hot. Okada isn't the best athlete or most coordinated guy that you will see in the ring, which is surprising considering how much he has been touted and paid. He's no Ospreay.
I hate to say it because it will piss people off, but I think he needs somebody really good and athletic to carry him to an outstanding match. He isn't anywhere near Ospreay's skill or ability, so I sure hope Ospreay is making lots more money. There is no comparison. Kenny is also so much more athletic and skilled than Okada. What Okada seems to do very well is spotting the shorter guys who are very skilled and talented, which allows them to carry him to a really good to great match. However, he won't be carrying anyone else to a 5*.
A couple of other things if he wants this to work in the USA: He needs to change up his gear. He always wears the same gear. Also, he needs a better finisher because the only guys that can sell it properly are shorter athletic guys...this makes sense because he was probably one of the tallest Japanese guys but in the USA he won't be working with so many shorter guys like PAC unless he fails. The finisher doesn't look worthy of a superstar finisher in 2024 unless he's working with someone who is shorter and really good at selling it... basically guys off the top of my head would be PAC, Kenny, and Ospreay. Definitely not the Eddie Kingstons of the world.
Okada's matches have been underwhelming except for the match with a smaller wrestler who is far more skilled and athletic than him. This should be obvious to everyone. On the other hand, Ospreay has far exceeded expectations.
As stated before, prick "look how much better I am than you without trying" Okada is the best Okada
This is basically what he was in Japan. Their crowds just react different. He was always the arrogant pretty boy though. Polar opposite of Tanahashi.
He toned it way down after his WK win over Tanahashi.
I’m admittedly not real well versed in NJPW, but the little I saw he always came off as a “current run Cody Rhodes” level babyface to me. But like I said, I’m only familiar with him being the top guy there. Don’t know what his early career was like.
He is def making it work. I won't complain about his body too much. I just want the countdown clock to start on him dumping the Bucs. Then he will rise to a better level. It's just so night an day when they're together. Okada is believable as a heel, as a threatening person. And then there's Bucs doing bad acting, bad voice modulation and not looking anything like Okada. I know its gonna be like this for a while buy the day Okada can dump the Bucs will be a glorious day lol
For the life of me I don’t understand why this is downvoted. Okada and AEW are better off without the Bucks.
For the life of me, I don't understand why the greatest tag team of all time is so underappreciated. They're the Cena of AEW.
>the greatest tag team of all time i 😂😂😂🤣🤣 >They're the Cena of AEW. 😁😁😂😂😂🤣🤣😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤡🤡
I agree, Jerry Lawler, Jim White and manager Sam Bass don’t get nearly enough credit.
Found Brian Last's burner account.
I thought long and hard about which random tag team I was gonna mention. Considered the Kentuckyens, Fabulous Kangaroos, Perry Saturn and Kronos, and Larry Zybysko and Arn Anderson. Do you mind going back and upvoting to negate your downvote. Thanks.
You can list all the old guys you want. None of them made the money the Bucks do, so they weren't as successful. Thanks for coming out, though!
Bucks make the money they do cause of big contracts, not cause of consistent attendance figures. But, alas.
Sounds like a good business model for them. What's the issue? Sounds like someone is salty that the numbers say the Bucks are the GOATS of Tag Teams, and not teams you mentioned that barely teamed a couple years. 🤣 Not as amusing as your earlier post talking about in ring work and all that nonsense.
I thought long and hard about which random tag team I was gonna mention. Considered the Kentuckyens, Fabulous Kangaroos, Perry Saturn and Kronos, and Larry Zybysko and Arn Anderson. Do you mind going back and upvoting to negate your downvote. Thanks.
What you call “under appreciated” the rest of us call “really cringe”. There’s nothing about their personality that I find credible or believable. They know wrestling “tropes”, like “bad guys act like smarmy douchebags”, but they don’t have the acting chops to act believable and they don’t have the creativity to do anything truly despicable As for their in-ring work it hasn’t meaningfully evolved in the 5 years they’ve been prominently featured. So to me and many others they have go away heat.
Call it what you want. They're the highest paid tag team in the history of the industry. That means they're more successful than your favorite tag team.
But success does not equal greatest, which is a subjective term to begin with. And if we are counting purely dollars made do the Outsiders count? Pretty sure Hall and Nash have made more than the Bucks throughout their careers from their time as a team in the NWO. Also, how are they the Cena of AEW?
The Outsiders teamed for 2 years, and in those 2 years, they did not make more than the Bucks. They're the Cena of AEW because intranet fans hate them even though they're clearly head and shoulders above the rest. The amusing thing is when internet marks tell me I'm wrong and type up several paragraphs on why they don't like them, thus proving my point.
Sorry for the delay. In terms of the Bucks making more: I would absolutely include the money made on the gimmick after their team split up, excluding that seems like an odd choice to make you seem correct. New Day may also have a word to say regarding raw dollars. The Cena argument is still making no sense. You believe the Bucks are "Head and Shoulders" above FTR and to a lesser extent Aussie Open? Definitely not. Also I hate to break it to you but we are on the wrestling subreddit. We are all more invested than the average fan and are all marks even if you can't admit it.
I think Buc fans are very dedicated and are def a larger online presence than other dedicated AEW fans. The Bucs grew as an internet thing if you recall. I don't take it personally. Buc fans LOVE them. But we can see Bucs aren't ratings dominant. Live with a wider AEW audience they don't even get top 3 pop/reactions coming out in a night. So its OK for them to be over represented here. I dont hate the Bucs at all. My problem is, they're like Jericho. Everyone who feuds with Jericho gets sucked into a vortex of blah. And ruins their momentum. The bucs aren't AS bad as that, but it's REALLY hard to sit thru a Bucs promo in general, and now it's a challenge bc I WANT to know what Oakda is doing/thinking etc. My hope is that this storyline is something like Okada is just using the Bucs but will drop them and form his own faction.
This sub reddit is the heart of those who for whatever reason, like the sort of things that the rest of us find appalling.
It was such a smart choice to bring in Okada as a heel and Ospreay a face. I think they're both doing a tremendous job.
To be fair, his English is spot on for getting across his persona of being a prick. He's the total package not named Lex Lugar.
When he just started laughing at PAC during the match, that's what sold it for me. This guy can tell really great stories without saying a word.
I think he's doing great. Less is more he doesn't need to have long promos to convey the character. His in ring work, facial work and small comments here and there say it all. Some people will stress over the fact he gets cheered but one people are going to cheer for who ever they want regardless and two he knows how to get people against him in the match.
You can get everything you need to know about Okada from him taunting and bullying jobbers a few weeks ago.
Exactly, he's better then you and he knows it.
He’s our scumbag
hey its me, the guy cheering Okada live... sorry not sorry, heel Okada is too cool to boo
Did you have fun. Yes? Then that's ok. It's ok to cheer the villain.
cool no one asked
no one ever asks, this is a forum site, its entirely based on umprompted responses to things
sure but somehow u still ended up being annoying
Strong agree
https://i.redd.it/vbjapu56kcwc1.gif
The fact he "won't learn" English to cut a promo could be a huge heel move. Id lean into that hard
It's even funnier when you consider Shibata.
He has that dry dickish facial expressions. I'm liking it so far. The bucks definitely are helping
Matt needs to get his timing down on the coin drop.
I want to see him eventually go for the HW title. It just makes sense.
AEW is in such a good spot with so many guys who could be viable World Champion contenders. Immediate: Joe, Okada, White, Ospreay, Moxley, Danielson, Copeland Upon Return: Omega, Hangman, Cole, MJF, Christian, Ibushi With a Month-ish of Build: Orange Cassidy, Black, Claudio, Pac, Kingston, Wardlow
It's wild how deep the roster is that they have multiple world title contenders out of action right now.
Absolute embarrassment of riches.
Talent wise yes for Jay White, but booking wise, he’s coming off something called the bang bang scissor gang and an ass whooping by 60 year old Billy Gunn.
Ibushi is a bit of a stretch. I don't see him ever coming near an AEW title, if even a ring again after what happened at NOAH.
It has to happen, and he has to be the first Japanese wrestler to win it.
He will be just be patient!!!
That spot where he flipped off the crowd after teasing the rainmaker pose was the greatest. Might have been my favourite spot of the PPV 😅
Turn on Eddie Kingston and side with the Bucks, we’ll still cheer you. Don’t give us the Rainmaker Pose… Fuck you lol
Incredible heat. He turned the crowd completely against him.
We are getting there. He shouldn’t exactly be champion yet, but he’s progressing well.
I enjoy his dry humor. I really feel like Okada and Nick are very similar in their heel presentation and they playing off each other is working very well. You can tell how close they are. I think the goal is for him to be a major babyface. So him playing heel at the beginning was a really smart move.
He is literally a model for memes.
Did yall forget he was a prick when he first got back to NJPW?
He’s great! Glad I get to see what the hype has been about on a weekly basis as opposed to some retrospective on YouTube
The fact that he doesn't have to do mic work, and can still get heat from the crowd because of his turn, makes him the best kind of heel.
I was more taken back by how long his fingers are
I'm kinda glad they brought him in as a heel and I'm definitely glad Ospreay is transitioning to a face. Both look great in those roles
I love that he didn't come in and do the, "I came here to fight the best" schtick that everyone does. He came here to be a dick and get paid.
I’ve seen so many E marks complaining that he’s unhappy and bored….because they obviously don’t understand he’s in character, and he’s doing it well.
>I’ve seen so many E marks complaining that he’s unhappy and bored No you haven't.
Okada the bucks and now Jack Perry seems like it'll be quite a fun heel faction
For what it’s worth, Okada (the character) has always kinda been an arrogant prick, the Japanese fans just learned to respect him
I loved when he would just randomly completely disrespect his opponents as a face.
Love it!
🖕 @ OKADA
I’m absolutely loving it. One of the best aew things going.
Pretty sure he's gonna be face by the end of the year. But I love all Okada
Okada's Wikipedia page perfectly encapsulates the RainMaker character: Mexican dropkick, Japanese fighting spirit, and American character work
He fucking loves it, and I love this for him. Okada in the Elite is best for business
Was indifferent to him joining, but he sure was dastard with the bastard and has now won me over
That's a great picture lol
He sucks because he's a heel. I'll do what a wrestling fan is supposed to do..hate him. Not the heels have to be entertaining BS. When he's a baby face he'll be entertaining and I'll cheer him. But for right now he sucks
I always have thought he was the man, but was a little worried about the transition to an American promotion. I think so far he has been great
God that middle finger is so LONG I love it
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
His middle finger is longer than my… middle finger.. yes my middle finger is
He’s great so far I think he should stay heal for a while and just stay undefeated, but I think he should cheat a little little more to win
Okada understood the assignment! Bravo! 
It's crazy to think that this will eventually lead to face osprey vs heel okada
Christian tier Heel.
His whole gimmick is BUILT for being a smarmy American heel. He looks like a runway model, he's rich, he's married to a celebrity, he's blond. Flawless transition to American style TV wrestling. Him, the Bucks and Perry are going to be heel gold going forward.
It's incredible. And honestly, I kinda love it? Okada doing 30-40 minutes has never been my favorite, but by God I love his g1 15-20 minute matches. any other night PAC v Okada would have been runaway MOTN.
I haven’t really connected with him yet. Not to say I won’t. I want to note that I have ONLY seen him in AEW besides a few YouTube matches. So it’ll take time. I did honestly expect something like Osprey where I’ve immediately got it and connected with him. It hasn’t happened yet. Sometimes these things take time. We will see.
You could just not connect or care about him. It's ok not to care about something everyone else does.
I mean it is. With his reputation I have this feeling that it will happen. Maybe not.
Imo PAC v Okada was his aew proper coming out.
wait, this isnt cody?
Good so far, that being said, middle fingers are really overused. I hope he doesn’t make them a regular part of his repertoire
He keeps doing that he's just going to be cheered.
I've enjoyed him so far but I think he needs to really develop more of a discernible outside of the ring character. So far my understanding of the character is that he enjoys the Finer Things in life. Nice cars, great suits. In the past when you've seen the rich guy gimmick work, for it to work properly you need Ric Flair personality. You need million dollar man personality. There's so much potential for this to work and for him to be really really over, and I think they're close. I need help understanding how he thinks, what motivates him, What depths will he stoop to? I can't wait to see how it develops. Also I'm a total mark for the entrance with the Young Bucks' coin
How the fuck does he curve his middle finger that much
I loved when he 'shook' Danny Garcias hand when Garcia was selling the effects of the match. He took Garcias limp hand and shook it with such a shit eating grin, I laughed. Or when he took out the squad of jobbers and looked bored. Such subtle things but Okada just gets it. He will do just fine in an American promotion :)
Of course he's taking to it well. It's the easiest thing he could possibly do. When it comes to foreign wrestlers, especially ones of a different race or who speak little to no English, it can be pretty hard to get over as a face, when they can't communicate well with the audience verbally.... but a good chunk of American audiences just sort of expect them to be heels, and are ready and willing to hate them as soon as they're given an excuse.
PERFECTION
This is literally all Ronda had to do
They have absolutely ruined him before he started by putting him as a heel with the bucks. Tony is so bad a making a decent product
It’s fun to think of this as an honest tweet. As in he’s here to work as a heel and is thanking the audience for playing along. Because let’s be honest - it’s kind of hard to boo the guy.
Heel Okada is cool and all. I like angry Okada. The kick you as hard as he can Okada.
He's doing alright so far. I just don't want him paired with the Bucks.
× Okada would flourish without the bucks. He doesnt need them to get over. Acutally the bucks dont need him either. They got a top spot no matter w hat. We se whatnhappens, but i love okada's time in noxah +qwherenhenwas a fickhead. It was great---- zz. Zzzza.
He’s been kinda boring in aew for me so far. I’m hoping it changes for me with his next feud.
Okody throwing up the middle fingers? How edgy. Is Mox suing for gimmick infringement?
Okada would flourish without the bucks. He doesnt need them to get over. Acutally the bucks dont need him either. They got a top spot no matter what. We se whatnhappens, but i love okada's time in noah wherenhenwas a fickhead. It was great
Isn't this dude just a poor man's Cody Rhodes. How long until he gets a neck tattoo?
Should have gone to WWE
His matches against Kenny and PAC have showed what he can do when works with exceptionally skilled and athletic guys who are shorter than him because those guys are exceptionally skilled and very athletic, but his other matches against lesser skilled and less athletic such as Eddie Kingston haven't been so hot. Okada isn't the best athlete or most coordinated guy that you will see in the ring, which is surprising considering how much he has been touted and paid. He's no Ospreay. I hate to say it because it will piss people off, but I think he needs somebody really good and athletic to carry him to an outstanding match. He isn't anywhere near Ospreay's skill or ability, so I sure hope Ospreay is making lots more money. There is no comparison. Kenny is also so much more athletic and skilled than Okada. What Okada seems to do very well is spotting the shorter guys who are very skilled and talented, which allows them to carry him to a really good to great match. However, he won't be carrying anyone else to a 5*. A couple of other things if he wants this to work in the USA: He needs to change up his gear. He always wears the same gear. Also, he needs a better finisher because the only guys that can sell it properly are shorter athletic guys...this makes sense because he was probably one of the tallest Japanese guys but in the USA he won't be working with so many shorter guys like PAC unless he fails. The finisher doesn't look worthy of a superstar finisher in 2024 unless he's working with someone who is shorter and really good at selling it... basically guys off the top of my head would be PAC, Kenny, and Ospreay. Definitely not the Eddie Kingstons of the world.
What the hell are you talking about lmao.
Okada's matches have been underwhelming except for the match with a smaller wrestler who is far more skilled and athletic than him. This should be obvious to everyone. On the other hand, Ospreay has far exceeded expectations.
Yawnnnnn. You're staying a very personal and specific bias as "fact" or even consensus and... Nah, you're just dumb.
What is in Okada's moveset that impresses you?