Konosuke Takeshita is the new G1 Climax champion and it’s potentially a bigger deal for New Japan Pro Wrestling than you might think.
The wrestling landscape has come a long way since the isolated wilderness that existed prior to cross-promotion and working partnerships becoming common. We’re years removed from simply dreamily staring at two promotion’s rosters with doe eyes imagining what a match between wrestler A and B might look like. Partnerships like the one AEW and NJPW have nurtured since the early 2020s have become far more practical in terms of how roster members are used. We’re at a moment where these agreements are showing their value.
These agreements are different from ones like WWE buying AAA, or AEW buying ROH. These are more akin to what TNA and WWE currently have in place, or AEW, NJPW and CMLL. There is an intrinsic value in the selected groups using their talents together to promote the ecosystem they’ve set for themselves. We see this in companies putting outside talent as centrepieces in front of new audiences, having them win big matches and titles, and then utilizing them on both promotion’s programming to foster greater exposure and growth.
To a degree we see this with WWE and TNA where the latter and NXT have been actively crossing over for months, resulting in TNA’s top singles championships being held by NXT talent. This is similarly the case now with MJF holding CMLL’s World Light Heavyweight championship after beating former champion Averno; he has concurrently been appearing on both AEW and CMLL shows to build his feud with Mistico. Although it’s hard to say what the endgame is on the WWE-TNA side with NXT talents ruling the world and Knockouts divisions (with the former, I’m in the camp that believes Santana should be champion right now), the CMLL-AEW partnership feels more clear and with purpose.
However, both share common ground in that the crossovers aim to build both up on even ground. We assume that at some point the WWE and AEW talents are going to drop those titles back to TNA and CMLL talents respectively to make that promotions’ talent appear strong. The same was true when Naito and Jon Moxley hot potatoed the IWGP title last year between Dominion and Forbidden Door.
A part from everything outlined above, AEW and New Japan have created a unique situation with both promotions officially having new G1 champion Takeshita under contract. Takeshita is the truest cross-promotional talent signed because he actually has multiple agreements in place with both AEW and NJPW. Those deals are in addition to his work with DDT, which is the Japanese promotion he called home for many years and is where he held DDT’s top title —Â the K-OD Openweight championship — five times. Across the three promotions, in addition to his five K-OD titles, he’s also held the AEW International championship and New Japan’s NEVER Openweight championship.
Takeshita calls three promotions home, and with him holding prominent roles in at least two of those company’s plans, Takeshita is set up in a position alongside the Don Callis family where he can be a top heel in both the American-based AEW and NJPW. Both companies seem to deeply value him as a commodity, evident first in his strong AEW booking and especially so given NJPW booked him to win the G1 Climax finals this past weekend. This guarantees him a shot at the IWGP championship held by Zack Sabre Jr. at Wrestle Kingdom.
The merits of the move on their own are interesting because NJPW doesn’t typically have outside promotions’ talent win their big tournament, which speaks to the egalitarianism of the AEW-NJPW partnership. Takeshita winning the G1 is a big deal because it is so unusual, and with that booked — thankfully keeping Evil far, far, far, far, far ……. far, far, far away from the IWGP title — I think we need to seriously consider that NJPW is on the cusp of crowning Takeshita as IWGP champion by January.
I think this is monumental based on the simple fact that it even happened. Consider the rest of the field for the 2025 tournament:
- Boltin Oleg
- Evil
- David Finlay
- Callum Newman
- Ryohei Oiwa
- Sanada
- Taichi
- Tanahashi
- Yota Tsuji
- Yuya Uemura
- Phantasmo
- Gabe Kidd
- Drilla Moloney
- Ren Narita
- Great-O-Khan
- ZSJ
- Shingo Takagi
- Shota Umino
- Yoshi-Hashi
There are several names there worth noting. First, there are a number you knew would not win. That includes Bullet Club and the House of Torture members, and additionally the United Empire remnants, and TMDK members outside of ZSJ. What I would highlight though are that the new musketeers — Narita, Umino and Tsuji —Â finished near the top of the round robin brackets with 10 and 12 points respectively. That either falls short or matches Takeshita’s total of 12 points.
The current version of the G1 takes the top 2 point-getters in the individual blocks and gives them byes into the semi-final rounds. In this case, Evil and ZSJ won blocks A and B respectively with 12 and 14 points. Of the three new musketeers, Narita did not make the playoffs. Conversely Umino and Tsuji made the playoffs, with Tsuji beating Umino before being sacrificed to Evil because Gedo has lost his damn mind. In the other bracket Takeshita beat both Finlay and ZSJ before toppling Evil in the finals.
To understand why this matters for the conversation, the terminology “musketeers” is a reference to Tanahashi, Katsuyori Shibata and Shinsuke Nakamura and how they are considered to have helped usher New Japan out of its lowest period in the early-mid 2000s. It’s a very important, relevant tag in the company’s history. Therefore it’s a big deal for the company to label Umino, Tsuji and Narita the same way because of the weight it carries. Yet in a field where both were strong, and although I think they have made gains since being focal points the last year or so, it’s very telling that Takeshita was the winner of the G1, and that Evil beat Tsuji twice, who beat Umino, who lost to Narita in his own block. And again, Narita did not make the playoff rounds.
Considering all of that, it feels like NJPW is not ready to truly to go all in on those three in the same way they did their predecessors. Evil beating Tsuji twice is the most blaring aspect of this, and I found him to be the most interesting of the three from the outset. With that in perspective, Takeshita is an interesting choice to position opposite the IWGP champion because he is a heel, is staunchly still very much rooted in Japanese wrestling and is already what those three are supposed to be. (Also, he’s not Evil.) That is important to note, as presently the three of them have only held two singles titles between them in a period considered to be theirs. Conversely, in that same period Takeshita has also picked up a singles title, and has now won the right to challenge the IWGP champion via the company’s marquee tournament.
Takeshita winning the IWGP championship is very realistic. The wrinkle is how much of this has been discussed between Tony Khan and NJPW in terms of what commitments Takeshita will have to make in the coming months, especially should he become IWGP champion. For example, would AEW be OK with him not being on TV during major tours in Japan? Conversely you’d also assume he’d work North American shows, and still appear for AEW semi-regularly at a minimum.
Where I start to ask questions is when you consider what the endgame is similarly to WWE talent holding TNA titles, or with MJF holding CMLL’s second biggest championship. Would it be to build a new Takeshita-centric dynasty, or because he’s positioned as a heel with the Don Callis faction (and Callis himself), is it to install him as the top heel in the interim to give something for the musketeers to fight against? Is he a foil for two-thirds of what NJPW wants in their babyface status quo?
Takeshita is firmly established as a heel in AEW, so would that work in NJPW, and would that suffice to push Tsuji and Umino forward since Takeshita would still be considered an outsider to some degree? I think there’s a fair opportunity to explore that, because frankly if you follow the company at all, I don’t know how you look at Takeshita winning as anything other than NJPW not being willing to entrust a G1 win to Tsuji, Umino and Narita. Otherwise it would have happened.
Furthermore his victory presents the opportunity to establish a new, fresh top heel in the NJPW ranks that has otherwise been depleted through many departures. Further, I think it’s at least relevant to note that should he beat ZSJ for the title, the freshness of a new top heel in the company will go farther than choosing someone like Evil or David Finlay who are rank-and-file mid-card acts that the company at least trusts.
Conversely that isn’t the case yet with the musketeers. Otherwise one of them would have at least made the finals. Takeshita presents a good opportunity to build a solid heel champion with no stigmas (like say, Evil), who you can then use to build someone like Tsuji up toward a marquee victory for the title in the middle of next year. That needs to be big and pronounced, and less so an “oh, that’s nice, he won,” result that does nothing. If done right this is what NJPW needs, and as great as ZSJ is I don’t think you can build those three off beating him.
With Okada and Naito gone, Tanahashi retiring, and Shibata and Nakamura elsewhere, the company is searching for an identity. I think that’s what this G1 comes down to — it’s the company trying to figure itself out, and finding its way out of the mess it put itself in having failed to really build for the future. This is the potential this tournament win unlocks for the company, because it needs to rediscover its purpose not even just on a global stage but within its own company culture — maybe even something more granular compared to NOAH and how they’ve leaned back into the returning KENTA. I think the Alpha can help create a new omega for New Japan that will help cement its main event scene.
With its aces absent, and with its time investment into top shelf gaijin heels either not paying off or serving only to prime them for North American employment, this could be a pivotal moment for NJPW. To give someone who isn’t working in Japan full time a G1 win is unusual, but as he also has his feet planted in both Japan and North American, Takeshita can be a conduit to build from domestically and to also establish a stronghold in North America where he’s loved even as a heel.
At 30-years-old Takeshita is the ripe age to work with the new musketeers and a host of other full time talent. I think him winning the title from ZSJ is a smart play, and I think it’s just a matter of whether that’s something they want to commit to. But given their current state, their partnership with AEW, and that they have Takeshita under a company contract, crowning Takeshita as the IWGP champion could be the smartest thing New Japan has done since taking the title off Evil.
