Lio Rush Teases Potential Big NJPW Match For When He Is Healed
Lio Rush, the Man of the Hour, never seems to aim low when it comes to music or his in-ring career.
Despite currently being injured, Rush has his sights set on one day wrestling one of the most successful wrestlers in New Japan Pro Wrestling history. In an exclusive interview with Wrestling Inc., former AEW Star and WWE Cruiserweight Champion Lio Rush teased that a big NJPW match will take place in the future.
"There's people that I want to wrestle again, there's people that I've never wrestled before, and, of course, you have those people that a lot of people might think are impossible matchups, like those dream matchups I'm really looking forward to," Rush stated. "One day I will wrestle Okada and I promise you, it'll be a good match.
"... I wish that I wasn't hurt. I wish that I didn't have to go through back-to-back injuries, but these things happen. You've got to tackle them head-on and at the right pace. I miss being in the ring. I miss wrestling in general."
Kazuchika Okada is a former six-time IWGP World Champion, two titles away from typing Hiroshi Tanahashi's record of most reigns with the championship. Okada has been one of the leaders in NJPW for upwards of a decade, with his first reign as champion beginning in February of 2012. Okada has since gone on to have classics against competitors such as Tanahashi, Kenny Omega, Katsuyori Shibata, and others.
Okada won his most recent IWGP World Heavyweight Championship by defeating Shingo Takagi on night one of a three-night WrestleKingdom. On night two, Okada successfully defended the championship he won the day prior against current IWGP United States Champion Will Ospreay. Okada lost the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship on June 12th to Jay White at NJPW's Dominion event in Osaka-Jo Hall in Osaka, Japan.
As for Rush, he last wrestled in February against Buddy Matthews in a second-round match in the Battle of Los Angeles 2022 for PWG where he won by DQ. Rush suffered an injury in the match against Matthews, stating that he suffered a "clean dislocation" in his left shoulder.
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