Smooth’s Court is a column from Walter Yeates that will feature multiple weekly entries, including commentary from Walter on current and past events in the world of professional wrestling. This entry looks at the bizarre claims that New Japan Pro Wrestling doesn’t care about psychology and Kazuchika Okada is a spot monkey.
Since New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) began their international rise around the time of the NJPW World streaming service came into existence on December 1, 2014, there has been a continuous narrative from a section of the English speaking wrestling audience on social media that the company does not care about the psychological aspects of professional wrestling.
Those fans mostly represent World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) fans who irrationally view any other major wrestling company in the world as inferior, simply because it isn’t the promotion they grew up watching. Several days ago, this same segment of the wrestling community began decrying 5x former IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada as nothing more than a ‘spot monkey.’
A ‘spot monkey’ is a pejorative term used to define wrestlers who simply do risky spots (usually using high levels of athleticism) to receive a ‘pop’ from the crowd without any direct reason (psychology) other than it’s something cool. Describing Kazuchika Okada as such is quite peculiar at best, and completely ignorant to wrestling at worst. Unfortunately, these claims gain steam due to certain controversial wrestling podcast figures relying on toxic narratives to remain relevant.
NJPW’s rise to becoming a global force in professional wrestling has centered around the creative work of Gedo/Jado and the masterful in-ring work which helped lead the international wrestling resurgence over the past decade. The live attendance market is arguably the toughest in the world as fans don’t cling to popular brands if the level of wrestling isn’t up to par.
New Japan Pro Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), Pro Wrestling Noah (NOAH) have all faced down periods, with the latter two currently attempting to recover from an extended period of down business. With such an emphasis on providing a high-quality wrestling product in their primary market, it’s always been NJPW’s goal to keep a high standard — especially near the top of their cards.
Kazuchika Okada has been a consistent figure in the current NJPW boom, since his return from an excursion on January 4, 2012. Okada has progressed in the ring over the past eight years while creating a legacy of being one of the best IWGP Heavyweight Champions in the title’s history. A number of wrestling enthusiasts would argue Okada is already one of if not the ‘best’ wrestler of all-time when you look at his accomplishments before even entering his prime.
His series of matches against Kenny Omega, Tetsuya Naito, and Hiroshi Tanahashi — along with the accompanying narratives are modern examples of long-term storytelling accentuating psychological narratives inside the ring, which hook wrestling fans on plots which last years at a time.
While one can argue whether or not Okada is the best wrestler of all-time, it’s objectively false to label Okada as a spot monkey or say NJPW doesn’t care about the psychological side of professional wrestling. Neither would be in the place they are today without paying close attention to creating an emotional connection with fans and paying it off with amazing in-ring competition.
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