Eddie Kingston Wants To Wrestle Kazuchika Okada And Hiroshi Tanahashi In Japan

AEW star Eddie Kingston has listed some Japanese wrestlers that he would like to face sometime in the future, with one of them being Kazuchika Okada.

Kingston appeared on KHTK-AM radio's "Deuce & Mo" and spoke about getting his dream match against Japanese legend Jun Akiyama in November at Full Gear. The hosts asked him what other dream matches he had floating around in his head, and the answer wasn't an entirely unsurprising one, focusing mainly on the biggest NJPW stars of the two decades.

"Oh man, there's too many," Kingston replied. "There's way too many, too many to list. But [Hiroshi] Tanahashi is one; Google him. [Kazuchika] Okada as well; Google him. Yuji Nagata [is] another one. There's a lot of Japanese guys, you know what I mean? [Pro Wrestling NOAH's] Go Shiozaki, I would love to get in the ring with. Just, in general, I would like to go to Japan. 

"I went in 2011 for Osaka Pro and I'd like to go back, you know what I mean? I like that style of wrestling. People got mad when I said I just don't like the WWF [style of] wrestling. People get mad about that and I laugh, because who am I working for? Of course, I'm gonna tell them they're the best." 

He added that Japanese wrestling was what originally caught his eye as something to emulate, with Memphis wrestling and ECW being his other main influences.

Kingston has had the opportunity to wrestle with a number of Japanese legends in recent years, both as part of his primary job with AEW and its affiliates as well as on the independent scene. Since 2019, he's had matches with Masato Tanaka, Shinjiro Otani, Daisuke Sekimoto, Minoru Suzuki, Tomohiro Ishii, Naomichi Marufuji, and, most memorably, Jun Akiyama at AEW Full Gear 2022.