A Quote by Kazuchika Okada

When I was just a strong wrestler, TNA didn't use me. I didn't have a character, so I knew I needed one. — © Kazuchika Okada
When I was just a strong wrestler, TNA didn't use me. I didn't have a character, so I knew I needed one.
I learned in TNA that I needed more than just a good match - I needed a character. That's how I became the 'Rainmaker.' It was good for me.
When I'm looking for a strong female character, or a strong character at all, I'm looking for a character that has a purpose in that story, that has an interior life of some sort. They don't have to be physically strong; they don't have to be morally strong or ethically strong, because men and women come in a huge variety of all of those things. Emotionally, ethically - I'm less concerned with that. I just don't want them to be props. That's the only thing that offends me.
I had a whole bunch of things I knew I needed to work on from self-scouting. I knew on certain routes what I needed to do and ways to use my eyes and shoulders and manipulate coverage.
My mom was like, 'What did I do as a mom for you to want to become a wrestler?' They just didn't understand, and it's really hard to explain what made me love wrestling so much. There's something about it that made me fall in love, and ever since I laid my eyes on it, I knew I wanted to be a professional wrestler in the WWE.
TNA has been great as far as allowing me to have more input creatively on my character and the direction of my character and promos.
I do feel privileged to play Elektra, because definitely she is a strong female character. She's a strong character. It would be nice if eventually we'd just say she's a strong character, not a strong female character.
I wouldn't want to play a character that knew everything and knew where to go. It is much more interesting playing a character that is vulnerable trying to be strong. It makes for better TV.
Now, about that mulatto teacher and me. There was no love there for each other. There was not even respect. We were enemies if anything. He hated me, and I knew it, and he knew I knew it. I didn't like him, but I needed him, needed him to tell me something that none of the others could or would.
So, wrestling, being strong, having good matches? I learned that in New Japan. But as a TV character? TNA was good.
I love being a woman. I never wanted to be a man or needed to prove I was just like them. I graduated law school at USC, won moot court honors, and finished high in my graduating class, so I knew who I was. I knew I was intelligent and educated and strong. Being a woman has always helped me in many ways.
I can sing every single word of Honky Tonk's theme song. He was great. He might not be that cruiserweight-style wrestler or a Bret Hart-type of wrestler, but I thought he was great. He was such an over-the-top character, and it was a character on the peripheral of wrestling.
And when I came in with tears in my eyes, you always knew whether I needed you to hold me or just let me be. I don't know how you knew, but you did, and you made it easier for me.
I knew I wanted to be a wrestler, so I became the best wrestler in wrestling history.
Take a strong wrestler, get them tired, and they aren't as strong. Take a quick wrestler, get them tired, and they aren't as quick. Take a technical wrestler, get them tired, and they aren't as technical. No matter what kind of wrestler, everyone is afraid of getting tired. It's those who learn to perform when they're tired that find success.
In terms of being honored at the TNA Hall of Fame, I think that's something that every pro wrestler dreams about.
I tend to like strong female characters. It just interests me dramatically. A strong male character isn't interesting because it has been done and it's so cliched. A weak male character is interesting: somebody else hasn't done it a hundred times. A strong female character is still interesting to me because it hasn't been done all that much, finding the balance of femininity and strength. [From a 1986 Fangoria interview]
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