Kazuchika Okada Set To Return Soon To TNA Wrestling After More Than 12-Year Absence

Impact Wrestling has announced that former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada will make an appearance in the new-look TNA Wrestling in January. 

Okada, who has previously wrestled in Impact/TNA Wrestling, will feature at the promotion's Snake Eyes taping in January 2024, which will mark his first appearance in the promotion in over a decade. 

""The Rainmaker" is back. On January 14th, Kazuchika Okada will step into a TNA ring for the first time since 2011 when the television trucks of iMPACT! on AXS TV roll into Las Vegas for Snake Eyes," said the statement by the promotion. "As one of the most decorated stars in all of pro wrestling, Okada is a former two-time IWGP World Heavyweight Champion and a current-reigning NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion. What does Okada have in store for the TNA Wrestling roster? Be there LIVE at the Palms Casino Resort and find out first at Snake Eyes."

The last time Okada wrestled in Impact was in 2011 when he faced Alex Shelley in a singles match. Recent reports have indicated that the Japanese star's contract with NJPW will expire at the end of January, with WWE reportedly interested in securing his signature. Apart from wrestling in NJPW, the 36-year-old has wrestled thrice in AEW in the last few years.

Okada isn't the only NJPW star who will feature at Snake Eyes as another former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, Will Ospreay, was recently confirmed for the show. Impact Wrestling will be renamed TNA, with the Hard to Kill pay-per-view on January 13 being the first show to use the TNA name once again.