Kazuchika Okada has ice water running through his veins.
In February 2012, Okada defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship for the first time. This came just a few months after his less-than-memorable run with TNA Wrestling came to an end. One month after winning the belt, Okada made his first successful defense of the title by toppling Tetsuya Naito in the main event of NJPW's 40th-anniversary event.
Speaking with Wrestling Observer Radio, Okada was asked about those two matches and the pressure that was placed upon him at that time.
"So even now, people ask him 'don't you ever get nervous?' It's because he was in the position that he was in that he doesn't get nervous. Nobody will teach you experience in a wrestling school and nobody will teach you that in the classroom, it's something you have to be in those spots yourself and you have to be in that sink or swim situation. As it happens, he was able to swim and it was because of that experience back then, ten years ago, that he is where he is at today that he can perform at the level he can perform at," Okada replied through his translator.
Okada recently re-established himself as the top man in NJPW by coming out of Wrestle Kingdom 16 with the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.
Elsewhere in the interview, he discussed dream matches and why they're important to think about. Read more here.
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