Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada has been booked for NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18 on January 4th, 2024.
Danielson was previously injured with a broken arm while wrestling Okada at the AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door PPV event in June. Danielson beat Okada in the bout match this past Summer before Danielson was sidelined with a broken orbital bone.
While speaking with NJPW, Danielson talked in character about the importance of the bout. Here are the highlights:
On always wanting to wrestle in NJPW:
“I’m really excited [about the Wrestle Kingdom match]. So New Japan, when I started wrestling, that’s where I always wanted to be. Like when I envisioned myself as a professional wrestler, I didn’t envision myself being a big star in the United States…..The idea of being able to go wrestle in Japan with the best wrestlers in the world in a wrestling style that I like most, was really appealing to me.”
On his injury in their Forbidden Door match:
“I’m in the twilight of my wrestling career, and Okada on his own, has taken way over three months now. In the last year of my full-time pro wrestling career, he’s taken away for three months. And when you want to talk about fighting spirit, and you want to talk about strong style, I don’t know if there’s a better example than breaking your arm and tapping out Okada on the same night when nobody’s tapped out Okada since 2015. After doing that, and because I wrestled for another ten minutes with a broken arm and because I fought through, I couldn’t hold my son for two months. I still don’t have full strength in my right arm, because I did come back a little bit early.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit NJPW’s YouTube channel with an h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
