AEW Star Says It Was 'Obvious' He Should Main Event Sold-Out NJPW Wrestle Kingdom

The road to New Japan Pro Wrestling's biggest event of the year is nearing its end as NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20 is right around the corner, which also means that the career of Hiroshi Tanahashi is just hours away from drawing to a close. The NJPW President will wrestle the final match of his career in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 20 against his greatest rival, current AEW International Champion Kazuchika Okada, who will be looking to bounce back to winning ways after losing his AEW Continental Championship in the final of the Continental Classic tournament to Jon Moxley.

There was some debate as to whether Okada and Tanahashi's match should go on last as there were fans who thought the double title match between IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Konosuke Takeshita and IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji should main event Wrestle Kingdom 20. However, in the final press conference before the big event, Okada stated that his match closing the show was the obvious choice. 

"A sell out is a great thing. I always wanted that when I was in NJPW, and now I can say that I sold the building out, right? Maybe this sounds out of character, but I always wanted to show Tanahashi a sold out Dome. And the main event! I'm sure the last match will be so good that people might think of leaving, but Okada being in the main event is the obvious choice."

Wrestle Kingdom 20 will be a historic night for NJPW as it has already set the record for the most money generated at the gate for a NJPW show as more than 50,000 people will be in attendance. This also means that it will be the highest attended NJPW event at the Tokyo Dome since the Antonio Inoki retirement show which took place in April 1998.

Please credit "NJPW1972" when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.