Bronson Reed WWE

Bronson Reed Makes Interesting Comparison Between Roman Reigns And Kazuchika Okada

Originally posted on Wrestling on SI | By Aidan Chacon | Last updated Oct 9, 2025 4:30 PM ET

Roman Reigns is the standard in today's era of wrestling.

After a rivalry that's now spanned multiple months, Bronson Reed understands Reigns' impact on the business more than most. Reed is set to face off against Reigns in a Australian Street Fight at Crown Jewel: Perth this Saturday morning.

This street fight follows a previous match the two had against each other at Clash in Paris in August. The match in Paris saw Reed lose, but Reigns left the building on a stretcher due to an onslaught of Tsunamis from Reed.

Bronson Reed compares Reigns to Kazuchika Okada

Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

Reed appeared on The Battleground podcast Tuesday to promote Crown Jewel: Perth which takes place in his home country of Australia.

"I made sure that I knew I was going to get to Japan, but I didn’t know that I was going to have the matches I was going to have, and then how everything worked, and I got to work with, obviously, Okada, who at the time was unbeatable in Japan… You could say he was the Roman Reigns of New Japan at the time, for sure, and to beat him in the G1 and do what I did, I think it put a lot of eyes back on me."Bronson Reed on beating Okada

Reed made sure to give credit to Okada for what a win against him meant. The Tribal Thief credited Okada for more fans learning who he was after his win against Okada in 2022.

Why the comparison makes sense

There are certain names in pro wrestling where fans are always genuinely shocked to see them lose. Some superstars win for long periods of time and earn "final boss" status.

Okada held the IWGP Heavyweight Championship five times before its unification and has multiple reigns in New Japan Pro Wrestling as their top guy, where's he's the longest reigning world champion in history. Okada held their top prize for 720 days before losing to his biggest rival, Kenny Omega, at Dominion in a 2/3 falls match that excluded a time limit.

After years of Okada's dominance in Japan, a clean victory over the Rainmaker in his home promotion is certainly a big deal.

Reed fought Okada with vindication in mind

Reed was released from WWE in the summer of 2021. He was eventually signed back in late 2022 but there was a period of time where Reed traveled the world again boosting his name value. When he was released from NXT, he felt he had a lot to prove.

“I remember when I did get released from NXT, I was like, ‘Well, I’m just going to go out there and prove myself again and make sure that they know they made the wrong decision,’” Bronson Reed being released from NXT

The Aus-Zilla travels to Australia to try an even up a score with the OTC of WWE, Roman Reigns, this Saturday at 8:00 am Eastern time on ESPN and Netflix for international viewers.

This article first appeared on Wrestling on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: