The Story So Far: Kazuchika Okada Vs. Kenny Omega At AEW All In 2025

On July 12, 2025, Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada will add another chapter to their already historic rivalry at All Elite Wrestling's biggest event of the year, All In: Texas. The two men will fight over the newly created AEW Unified Championship, a title formed out of Omega's AEW International Championship and Okada's AEW Continental Championship being merged together, and the company has done everything in its power to try and convey just how much of a big deal this match is.

AEW recently aired a lengthy video package detailing how important Omega and Okada's rivalry is to the sport of professional wrestling, but for how good that was, it still didn't do it justice. To put it simply, Omega and Okada's rivalry in New Japan Pro-Wrestling changed the way wrestling was viewed around the world. It famously broke Dave Meltzer's star rating system to the point that some people now see a four-star match as a bad thing. It rocketed NJPW through the promotional glass ceiling in the eyes of tahe global audience to become, at that point, the undisputed No. 2 promotion in the world behind WWE, and at a time where the aforementioned WWE was still seen as the only game in town, it meant something that every wrestling fan knew about Omega vs. Okada.

All of the matches are available to watch on NJPWWorld, and we urge you to watch them all before All In: Texas, but if you don't get the chance, let this be a quick refresher course on one of the greatest rivalries of all time. So sit back, relax, and join us on a journey to Japan, home to some of the greatest professional wrestlers in history, and the birthplace of a feud that looks set to continue on AEW's biggest stage on July 12.

Kenny Omega; Kazuchika Okada. This is the story so far.

In the summer of 2016, Kenny Omega made history by becoming the first non-Japanese wrestler to win the prestigious G1 Climax tournament, earning himself a shot at Kazuchika Okada's IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 11 on January 4, 2017. At the time, Omega's push to the main event scene was met with both excitement and uncertainty as it was unclear if he could fill the shoes of both AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura who left NJPW for WWE earlier that year, and the fact that at the start of 2016, Omega was still a junior heavyweight.

He defended his title shot against YOSHI-HASHI, one of the only men to beat Omega in the G1 Climax block phase, and Hirooki Goto, who Omega beat in the final to win the tournament, while Okada made his first defense of the title he took back from Tetsuya Naito at Dominion in June against the man who beat him in his first G1 block match, NOAH ace Naomichi Marufuji.

The two men had never locked horns in a singles environment before, but despite the pressure of the Tokyo Dome main event slot being given to them, Omega and Okada made magic in front of a crowd who knew they were witnessing history. Both guys gradually shift through the gears over the near 47-minute runtime, culminating in a closing stretch where the Japanese audience, who are always portrayed by wrestlers in the west as quiet and respectful, are screaming so loud you can barely hear either the Japanese or English commentary.

Okada may have picked up the win, but it was clear as day that these two would need to meet again, not just because Omega had far exceeded everyone's expectations (including Okada's) in being a credible main event talent, but purely because it was simply too good not to run back.

Following Wrestle Kingdom 11, the wrestling world was glued to everything Omega and Okada did. For "The Cleaner," he actually stepped away from Japan following the loss to assess his career, leading to that famous interview with Seth Rollins who said that he wanted to see Omega in the 2017 Royal Rumble. However, he would return in February to continue leading the Bullet Club as they feuded with Okada's CHAOS stable, but more specifically Tomohiro Ishii. As for "The Rainmaker," his reign as champion was getting more historic with each title defense, beating the likes of Minoru Suzuki and Bad Luck Fale, as well as Katsuyori Shibata in a bout that literally forced Shibata into a premature retirement.

In need of a challenge for Dominion 2017 where Okada would celebrate one year as champion with a victory, he hand-selected Omega to be his opponent given the effort he put in at Wrestle Kingdom 11, and the rematch was set; Omega/Okada 2 was official for June 11, 2017. What followed was the answer to the question; how do you try and top a match many consider to be one of the greatest of all time? The answer was simple; have a better match.

Okada and Omega went to a one-hour time limit draw in front of a capacity crowd in Osaka, marking the first time in over a decade that a match in NJPW had reached the 60 minute mark. There were plenty of call-backs to their first encounter, whilst elevating previous spots to new heights, and incorporating a number of new moments that are now some of the most iconic points in the feud. Okada getting his foot on the rope after Omega finally hit the One-Winged Angel, the Bullet Club debating whether to throw in the towel on Omega's behalf, and of course, Okada missing The Rainmaker due to Omega simply collapsing out of exhaustion.

Okada may have left with the title, but he did not leave with the win, a step in the right direction for "The Cleaner."

Fans would not have to wait long to see more of the hottest rivalry in wrestling as it was announced shortly after Dominion concluded that Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada would be in the same block for the 2017 G1 Climax tournament.

Okada was, of course, entering the tournament as the IWGP Heavyweight Champion, painting a huge target on his back in the process, while Omega was entering both as the winner of the 2016 G1, and the inaugural IWGP United States Champion. He not only wanted to make history by being the first gaijin to win back-to-back G1's, but wanted to earn the right to face Okada at Wrestle Kingdom 12 given that he wasn't beaten by "The Rainmaker" at Dominion.

Their third match would take place on night 18 of the tournament, and it ended up becoming the match to determine who would win the block and move on to face Tetsuya Naito in the final. Okada came into the match as the block leader with 13 points, while Omega had 12 points and needed to win in order to face Naito. Both men were badly beaten down following a gruelling tournament, but due to it being in a tournament setting, a 30 minute time limit was in place, adding a sense of urgency to the bout that wasn't there before since their first two bouts had exceeded 45 minutes as a minimum.

However, Okada didn't get the message of urgency as he was too focused on punishing Omega, and "The Cleaner" took advantage of this by finally cracking the code of "The Rainmaker" and pinning Okada for the very first time. While Omega didn't end up winning the G1 as he was beaten by Naito in the final, his trilogy of matches with Okada was now tied at one win each and time limit draw.

Life took Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada in different directions heading into 2018. Omega had to deal with the surprise arrival of Chris Jericho to NJPW, losing his IWGP United States Championship to Jay White, the Bullet Club civil war, and finally reuniting with his Golden Lovers partner Kota Ibushi. While that was going on, Okada had become arguably the greatest IWGP Heavyweight Champion in history. He broke Shinya Hashimoto's record for longest individual reign, Hiroshi Tanahashi's record for most culminative days as champion, and Tanahashi's other record of most consecutive title defenses, with Okada beating "The Ace" himself in his record-breaking 12th title defense.

With that said, Okada still couldn't shake the fact that his record with Omega was even across the board, and much like 2017, "The Rainmaker" picked "The Cleaner" to be his opponent at Dominion 2018, but this time, there were two major stipulations in order for a conclusive winner to be decided; two-out-of-three falls, and no time limits.

This match is essential viewing for any wrestling fan at this point, and out of the four matches these two men had against each other, this is the one that personifies why everyone is so excited for All In: Texas. Omega finally achieved his dream, dethroning Okada after landing the One-Winged Angel in the center of the ring and securing the deciding fall, all while Don Callis is on commentary screaming "HOOK THE LEG! HOOK THE LEG!"

With three hours, sixteen minutes, and fifteen seconds of action, Okada and Omega told one of the most physical stories in wrestling history. Omega would go on to lose the IWGP Heavyweight Championship to Hiroshi Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom 13 in January 2019, which ended up being his final match for the company until 2023 as he left to form All Elite Wrestling with The Young Bucks, Cody Rhodes, and Hangman Page.

Nearly six years on from their iconic clash at NJPW Dominion 2018, a lot had changed for both Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada.

By the end of 2021, Omega had won almost everything there was to in AEW, as well as holding World Championships in TNA and AAA, but after he lost the AEW World Championship to Hangman Page, he finally went off and had as many surgeries as humanly possible to help fix all of the nagging injuries he had, which ranged from a sports hernia and worn out knees, to a case of vertigo that actually started in his third match with Okada. Things were going fine when he returned, but by the end of 2023, Omega ended up back in the hospital with diverticulitis, and was lucky he didn't die due to how serious his case was.

For Okada, he would have three more reigns as the World Champion in NJPW before deciding that he wanted something different in 2024 and left the company. He would sign with AEW in March 2024, and for the first time since he returned to NJPW from his excursion in 2012, Okada had turned to the dark side and turned heel, aligning himself with The Young Bucks, and becoming the latest member of The Elite.

Due to Omega being mostly hospitalized during Okada's first year with the company, their interactions were limited to just one show, the May 1 episode of "AEW Dynamite" in Omega's hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Omega had let the fans know that he might need to retire as his diverticulitis was so bad that he wasn't allowed to take any blows to the stomach or abdomen out fear of dying. Okada didn't care, stating that he was "The Best Bout Machine," and The Elite beat Omega down so bad that he ended up back in the hospital.

At the final AEW event of 2024, the Worlds End pay-per-view in Orlando, Florida, Kazuchika Okada defeated Will Ospreay to win the Continental Classic tournament, making it the fourth round robin competition win of his career, and to present him with his AEW Continental Championship, a returning Kenny Omega. 

No words were exchanged, only looks, but with the camera conveniently placing the two men on either side of the All In Texas banner in the background, it was clear that they would be on a collision course sooner rather than later. Once Omega got back to full fitness, he once again got tangled up with Don Callis and his family, but that led to Omega capturing the AEW International Championship from Konosuke Takeshita at Revolution 2025, making him the first-ever Grand Slam champion in AEW history.

From there, Okada would routinely find himself being invested in Omega's matches, coming out to confront him after victories, and things would eventually boil over at Fyter Fest when the two brawled all over the arena, resulting in a "winner takes all" match between Omega and Okada being booked for All In Texas for the newly formed AEW Unified Championship. The following week, a contract signing turned nasty when Okada officially left The Elite and joined The Don Callis Family. He brutally attacked Omega, targeting his abdomen in particular, and just when Omega thought the onslaught was over, Okada dropped an elbow drop on Omega while "The Best Bout Machine" was strapped to a stretcher.

Omega was spewing blood and needed time away from AEW to heal up as some people weren't sure if he'd be medically cleared for All In Texas. However, when Okada and Callis set their sites on Kota Ibushi, Omega made his return to chase away the family, while also letting them know that it will take a lot more than an elbow drop to keep him from becoming the first-ever AEW Unified Champion at All In: Texas.