By: Richard Edwards

It’s no secret by now that the Great-O-Khan made headlines in NJPW on October 16, 2020, by teaming up with a dastardly Will Ospreay and his partner Bea Priestley to form a powerful faction called “The Empire.” They took the country by storm, and opened a Pandora’s Box of “What If’s” that people are still talking about a month later.

A little backstory on The Great-O-Khan and his journey: Tomoyuki Oka was born in Maebashi, Japan, on June 12, 1991. Apart from wrestling, Oka was extremely good at judo, karate, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and sambo; these skillsets helped him excel at wrestling. He started wrestling in high school and displayed exceptional talent.

Photo credit c/o: twitter/taigaPhoto_PW

Oka won several amateur wrestling accolades, including the All Japan Wrestling Championship in the 120 Kg Freestyle Class in 2012. This brought Oka national attention and a meeting with Takaaki Kidani in 2013, the Bushiroad Entertainment Company owner who had recently acquired NJPW. Kidani was impressed by Oka and signed him shortly after they met, but Oka did not begin training with the NJPW
officially until 2015, when he finished university.

He joined NJPW as a Young Lion in 2015 and wrestled his first match on February 16, 2016, against fellow Young Lion Katsuya Kitamura ending in a draw. His first break came about a year later when he faced his trainer Yuji Nagata, who narrowly beat him. Oka notched his first victory on February 21, 2017 when he defeated Toa Henare. Oka also participated in the 2017 Young Lion Cup going 3-2, finishing third overall in a very commendable performance. As a top prospect in NJPW and on the cusp of discovering himself: Oka changed his ring name to “The Great-O-Kharn” (before eventually dropping the r, apparently in reference to his ancestry) and totally changed his look. He debuted a new finisher, “Mongolian chop,” which he used to finish off Shota Umino in his first match with the gimmick. The Great-O-Khan was a new beast; he had the whole country’s attention. It was now time for him to gain some experience outside of Japan. He went on excursion to the UK in late 2018 with RevPro and started his tour with three sensational victories. He followed that up with a big win over Shane Strickland at Pro Wrestling Summer Sizzler.

He continued his winning streak by forming a tag team with Rampage Brown to win the RPW and SWE Tag titles, and went undefeated over 861 days. That was enough for New Japan the deal was done behind closed doors to bring him back – turning into a surprise to everyone during the Power Struggle tour.

The only question that remains is what does “The Empire” have in store for everyone in New Japan? Is it just Kazuchika Okada who they’re after, or is it everyone in CHAOS? Is it championship gold that would drive such madness in and out of the ring? These answers, and many more I’m sure, will be answered by the time our Winter issue rolls around.

This article first appeared in Monthly Puroresu Issue #2