NJPW legends Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi recently spoke with Sports Illustrated to reminisce on their classic encounter at the New Beginning event in 2012, when Okada dethroned Tanahashi to capture his first IWGP World championship, a moment known as the Rainmaker shock. Highlights from the interview can be found below.
How Okada was feeling on the day of the match:
“I was very nervous until I went up to the ring that day. I didn’t even have an appetite.”
Says it was incredible to dethrone Tanahashi at the time:
“Eating gyūdon before my matches, that became a title-match routine because I had such success. When I won the title, it was amazing. I thought, ‘This is what it is like to be champion.’”
Tanahashi calls Okada the spirtual pillar of NJPW:
“It is more than even I expected. He excels in a visual sense, with athletic ability, and through his strength. I think he is now the spiritual pillar of New Japan Pro-Wrestling.”
On winning the IWGP world title for the second time, and how he believes youth is a weapon:
“I was happy when I was crowned for the second time. Now that I think about it, I think youth is also quite a weapon. I’ve been able to come here without injury for 10 years. I’ve overcome various things, and I will continue to overcome various difficulties moving forward.”