Kazuchika Okada has done it.
The Continental Champion has officially kept the title for 365 days. Okada beat the inaugural champion on March 20, 2024 and has successfully defended his belt eleven times. The only defense on his record that’s somewhat questionable is against Claudio Castagnoli as their title match went to a draw due to the time running out.
These two have yet to have a rematch for the Continental title. Okada has beaten the likes of PAC, Tomohiro Ishii, Buddy Matthews, and Kyle O’Reilly. He also went through the Continental tournament as champion and though he lost to Kyle Fletcher (a win he got back a short time later), he managed to win the entire tournament when it continued the most as he beat Will Ospreay to successfully retain his title.
All signs point to Okada facing Kenny Omega for the Continental Championship at All In. There’s even word that AEW officials are planning to merge the International and Continental titles at the big event. For now, this is all speculation as nothing has been confirmed.
It’s surely a nice feat on Okada’s resume that he’s been the Continental Champion for a good year. Should he even face Kenny Omega then that will be a huge match. However, there doesn’t seem to be much plans for him at the moment as he’s coming off a mini feud with Buddy Matthews and Brody King. Dynasty is April 6th, so there’s still some time for AEW to set up a new challenger for the Continental Champion.
In the meantime, Okada can simply celebrate being the longest champion currently in AEW. He still has some ways to go in being written in the history books as the longest champion in AEW as MJF has the men's record due to his AEW World Championship reign lasting at 406 days. Should Okada keep the belt until All In then he’ll easily surpass that.
However, Jade Cargill remains on top with 508 days and Okada won’t surpass that if he drops the belt at All In.
As always, we’ll have to see where Okada goes next. There’s still plenty of top level names he has yet to face for the title; perhaps they can restart the teased feud between Konosuke Takeshita, or if Adam Cole doesn’t win the TNT Championship then he can jump in line for the Continental belt. Hopefully, it’s a feud that allows Okada to really sink his teeth into the story and match wise.