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Oh my gawd, that\u2019s Aaron Wolf\u2019s music!<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n I admit that I only watch the Olympics<\/a> very intermittently because a lot of the sport and athletes just don\u2019t catch my eye. That\u2019s not meant to demean their abilities and accomplishments, which are outstanding, but I\u2019ve always been a sucker for sports with a little pizzazz mixed in.<\/p>\n One charismatic Olympian I did find myself watching was Aaron Wolf, a judo-ka who represented the Japan national team in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and 2024 Paris Olympics<\/strong>. Having won at least one gold in each of the Asian Games, Asian Judo Championship, Judo World Masters, International Judo Federation Grand Prix and Grand Slam, World Judo Championships, and Olympics, he\u2019s the kind of guy who makes you want to see what he\u2019ll do next.<\/p>\n \u25bc A highlight reel of Wolf\u2019s judo, but there\u2019re a lot of highlights so it\u2019s eight minutes long<\/p>\n\n And he certainly got people\u2019s attention on 23 June, when he held a surprise press conference to announce both his retirement from judo and new career as a professional wrestler with New Japan Pro-Wrestling<\/strong>. In doing so he will be the first Japanese Olympic gold medalist to become a pro-wrestler.<\/p>\n Wolf said that he had already achieved everything he set out to do in judo and had wanted to try professional wrestling since his student days. He added that he didn\u2019t follow the path of fellow Japanese judoka gold-medalists Hidehiko Yoshida and Satoshi Ishii into mixed martial arts because he wasn\u2019t really interested in it as much.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether or not I like something is the most important thing if I\u2019m going to do it,\u201d<\/strong> Wolf said, \u201cI wouldn\u2019t want to do something I didn\u2019t like.\u201d As for what he likes about it, he said, \u201cI think pro-wrestling is about showing everything about how you live, inside and outside of the ring. And I believe that pro-wrestling can let me express myself as Aaron Wolf.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n \u25bc Wolf shaking hands with New Japan Pro-Wrestling star and executive, Hiroshi Tanahashi<\/a><\/p>\n \u3053\u306e\u305f\u3073\u65b0\u65e5\u672c\u30d7\u30ed\u30ec\u30b9\u3068\u5951\u7d04\u3055\u305b\u3066\u9802\u304f\u3053\u3068\u3068\u306a\u308a\u307e\u3057\u305f\u3002 \u2014 \u30a6\u30eb\u30d5\u30a2\u30ed\u30f3 A.WOLF (@maronaaron0225) June 23, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n When asked what kind of wrestler he\u2019ll be, Wolf said it hasn\u2019t been decided yet, adding, \u201cRight now I\u2019ve only just started training as a pro-wrestler, so I want to build a solid foundation first and then think about what kind of wrestler I want to be<\/strong>. Of course, I\u2019ve seen wrestlers who have touched the hearts of many people, including myself, so deep down I\u2019d like to follow that path, but first I need a foundation for myself. I feel I need to work on the aspects of myself that don\u2019t have to do with being a judoka.\u201d<\/p>\n In a subsequent interview, Wolf said that he was contacted by a pro-wrestling organization outside of Japan after the Paris Olympics. But after seeking the advice of his friend, wrestler Kazuchika Okada<\/a>, he was told that New Japan Pro-Wrestling would be the best place for him to learn the ropes from the ground up.<\/p>\n Online reactions have been very enthusiastic, with many wishing the celebrated judoka well in his next venture and some craving details like moves and names. Though, the guy was literally born with a perfect wrestling name so I doubt he\u2019ll change it.<\/p>\n \u201cDoes he already have a ring name? What about a special move?\u201d<\/em> As for comments from other pro-wrestlers, Great-O-Khan has come out saying that he respects Wolf as a judoka, but if he doesn\u2019t begin his wrestling career with a shaved head and black trunks as all rookies, known as \u201cyoung lions\u201d in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, are supposed to do, he will revile him as a wrestler.<\/p>\n Judging by the reaction from fans online it might be hard to keep Wolf relegated to the young lion position for long, and perhaps trying to balance the level of fame that he\u2019s entering New Japan Pro-Wrestling with could make a good character arc for him too. We\u2019ll just have to wait and see when Aaron Wolf makes his debut at next year\u2019s Wrestle Kingdom 20, Japan\u2019s version of WrestleMania<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Source: 47 News<\/a>, Twitter\/maronaaron0225<\/a>, Tokyo Sports 1<\/a>, 2<\/a>, Nikkan Sports<\/a><\/em> Oh my gawd, that\u2019s Aaron Wolf\u2019s music! I admit that I only watch the Olympics very intermittently because a lot of the sport and athletes just don\u2019t catch my eye.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1117\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\u5148\u65e5\u3001\u67d4\u9053\u306e\u5f15\u9000\u4f1a\u898b\u3092\u3055\u305b\u3066\u9802\u3044\u305f\u3070\u304b\u308a\u3067\u3059\u304c\u3001\u307e\u305f\u65b0\u305f\u306a\u821e\u53f0\u306b\u7acb\u3066\u308b\u3053\u3068\u306b\u611f\u8b1d\u3057\u3066\u3044\u307e\u3059\u3002\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/Vv73xdgnhu<\/a><\/p>\n\n
\n\u201cPro-wrestling just got a lot better.\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cI think it\u2019s great Wolf is following his heart and doing new things.\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cThis is the most exciting thing since Tetsuya Naito was around.\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cHe has the humor, intelligence, and charisma to make it work.\u201d<\/em>
\n\u201cI got an autograph from judoka Aaron Wolf and he was really nice. Now, I want to get an autograph from pro-wrestler Aaron Wolf.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\nTop image \u00a9SoraNews24<\/em>
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