Tetsuya Naito comments on the departures of Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay.
Will Ospreay finished up his commitments with NJPW at the start of February, and Kazuchika Okada is set to finish up with the promotion this weekend. Both men have been staples of NJPW for years and are two of the most decorated talents in NJPW history. Okada in particular has been the face of the promotion for a decade.
Tetsuya Naito is the reigning IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, and as the current face of NJPW, he wants to make sure Ospreay and Okada regret their decisions to leave.
“Okada and Ospreay are taking on new challenges,” said Naito to Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated. “Good for them, and I wish them well. But my job is to make sure they regret leaving New Japan, and I need to keep defending this title in main events to do that. There are fans who might be worried about the future of New Japan. But anyone watching will be able to see that with Tetsuya Naito and Los Ingobernables De Japon around, there's no cause for concern.”
Naito is set to defend his IWGP World Heavyweight Title against SANADA at NJPW New Beginning in Sapporo on February 24.
He will battle Jon Moxley at NJPW Windy City on April 12.
