Aaron Wolf Reveals Kazuchika Okada Advised Him To Sign With NJPW

By: Lewis Carlan

A special press conference was held on June 23rd in which New Japan Pro-Wrestling announced the signing of Olympic gold medalist Aaron Wolf. Wolf won a gold medal at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo for the men’s 100 kg judo competition.

Wolf spoke with Tokyo Sports and indicated that in addition to NJPW, he received interest from a major overseas promotion. The newest NJPW signee revealed that while contemplating his decision on who to sign with, he reached out to former NJPW megastar Kazuchika Okada for advice. Wolf said Okada suggested he sign with NJPW as its the best place to learn pro wrestling.

From Aaron Wolf:

“I wanted to hear the voice of someone I could trust, so I sought advice from Okada-san. I asked him straightforwardly: ‘If I’m going to do pro wrestling, where is the best place to do it?’ He said, ‘If you want to learn pro wrestling from the ground up, New Japan Pro-Wrestling is the place to be.’ Those words really pushed me towards this decision.”

Wolf stated it was at NJPW that he saw Tetsuya Naito and Okada compete. He pointed out that despite both are no longer with NJPW, he is not looking to replace or surpass anyone at this stage of his new career.

From Aaron Wolf:

“It was at New Japan Pro-Wrestling that I saw Naito and Okada fight. Even though they are gone, my desire to wrestle on this mat has not changed. At this stage, I feel it would be presumptuous to think that I want to replace someone or surpass anyone. First, I want to build a solid foundation over the next six months so that I can stand in the same ring as the other wrestlers, and then I want to decide what I want to become.”

Wolf is expected to begin training with the goal of making his NJPW debut at Wrestle Kingdom 20 on Jan. 4th 2026.

(H/T goes to meraWRESTLING for the English quote translations)