Josh Alexander Can’t Blame Kazuchika Okada For Negative Comments Regarding IMPACT Wrestling
Josh Alexander says he can’t blame Kazuchika Okada for his negative comments about IMPACT Wrestling.
Alexander is currently scheduled for an upcoming trip to Japan alongside the Motor City Machine Guns. One Japanese talent that took note of this was former IWGP Heavyweight Championship Kazuchika Okada.
Okada would make it clear he wasn’t a fan of IMPACT Wrestling and “hated” when the company was known as TNA.
In a recent interview with Tru Heel Heat, Josh would discuss the upcoming trip to Japan, expressing his excitement for the excursion.
“I don’t know how I put it into words because I’m so excited. I’m a guy I don’t get super excited with anything especially in wrestling because you always feel you’re gonna get let down somehow. But Japanese wrestling is something I discovered when I was 15 years old. At the same time I discovered TNA/IMPACT Wrestling, Ring of Honor, all these other companies, you know. That’s just when the birth of the internet came in and I discovered all these things. And it blew me away. Just like the focus on the in-ring style and the stuff they were putting on was something that evaded me for nearly 18 years in this business. I’ve never traveled to Japan, so when I finally got to do New Japan STRONG over the last few years, it was always spoken of, ‘oh, we need to get you to Japan.’ And I was just like, ‘you guys just let me know.’ It’s just a waiting game and then finally, I was at, do you guys know what a splash pad is?”
Josh Alexander
“It’s like an outdoor park where it’s a water park without slides and stuff like that. You can take your kids there on hot days, so they can enjoy themselves in a waiting pool and stuff like that. And I had my sons at the splash pad just hanging out on a sunny summer day and got an email that we need this information from you for this, this and this because you’re coming to New Japan. And I was just like, ‘what?’ Like this came out of nowhere, you just check your email inbox and a few weeks later, the match gets announced. And you’re just like, ‘this is the first match that I get to compete in when I come to Japan, New Japan.’ So you know I’m very excited as a pro wrestler, as a wrestling fan because you know I’ve been lucky enough to be in the ring before with one of my favorite Japanese wrestlers, Tomohiro Ishii, but to get in there with, you know, The Ace (Hiroshi Tanahashi) and Okada at the same time, it’s a hell of a way to debut. So I’m gonna make the best of it, show up at New Japan Sumo Hall for my very first show and I intend on making a statement. Do more of what I’ve always done in the past few years and that’s put all eyes on me and all eyes on IMPACT Wrestling at the same time.”
Alexander would then speak on Okada’s negative comments towards IMPACT, admitting that he couldn’t blame Okada for the comments.
“I mean, you can take exception to them of course. His comments he was very respectful to myself, Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin, so that’s fine and all respect goes to those three guys as well. I think we all know that we respect each other and what we can do in the ring. But the second he calls out IMPACT Wrestling and later corrected himself that he hated TNA. For somebody who was watching that day and age, I don’t think I can blame him that much. So you know it was a tough time back in the day for TNA, but luckily you know, now things have changed. So myself, Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin get to show up in Sumo Hall with kind of a chip on our shoulder and show him that things have changed and that we are the best wrestlers in the world. Hopefully we can take those six man tag team belts from them.”
Josh Alexander
Alexander is a former long time IMPACT World Champion and during that run as champion, he unfortunately suffered a serious triceps injury that forced him to vacate the championship in March. Alexander returned to the ring back at Slammiversary to confront IMPACT World Champion Alex Shelley.
Alexander is currently scheduled to challenge Shelley for the championship at Bound For Glory.
Elsewhere in the interview, Alexander spoke about the recovery from his recent triceps injury.
Thank you to Tru Heel Heat for the quotes used in this article.
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