AEW performer and former owner of TNA Wrestling Jeff Jarrett recently discussed Kazuchika Okada and the changes he has made to be successful on US television.

Speaking on his My World podcast, Jarrett explained why Okada needed to add to and evolve his on-screen character, beyond just being a fantastic pro wrestler, to really get over in the United States:

“Okada’s, I can’t say ‘tongue-in-cheek’ character because he’s getting more and more dialed into it. He’s the most decorated, certainly in modern times, though Tanahashi is up there, but Okada is right up there in modern times at the tippy-tippy top. It is obviously a Japanese style that has carried him here, but…in America, you’re going to have to develop and evolve the character.”

Jeff Jarrett on Kazuchika Okada

Jarrett would go on to praise Okada for how he has adapted to a US television presentation, noting how he interacted with the crowd during his All Out match with Tommaso Ciampa:

“When he shot the double bird, that look right there. That is the furthest thing from the most highly decorated Japanese wrestler of all time. [Laughs] Now, he’s flipping off a 10 year old girl in front of her mother?

“I’m here for it, because it creates another extension of Okada’s personality. When you know him, he’s a nice dude, he’s fun loving, he likes to joke. But man, he’ll put on his game face with anybody, but, if you can transition in a match like that, it gives, as they say, a Hollywood depth to the character. I love it.”