Michael Nakazawa has now revealed how the AEW debut of Konosuke Takeshita came to be, ahead of Takeshita eventually joining the company.
Takeshita first wrestled for AEW in April 2021, competing in several Dark: Elevation matches, as well as at the company’s first ever house show, House Always Wins.
The rising star returned to AEW during his numerous international excursions in 2022, before finally signing with AEW that November.
Takeshita is currently aligned with Don Callis, after notably attacking Kenny Omega during the Elite vs Blackpool Combat Club Anarchy in the Arena match at Double or Nothing.
In a column on the DDT Pro website, Michael Nakazawa noted that Takeshita approached him directly about potentially appearing for AEW in 2020.
Explaining the situation, Takeshita said:
“In April 2020, it was announced that Takeshita would be absent from DDT. However, it was not due to injury, but to participate in AEW.
“At that time, Takeshita was still fighting at the top level, but he was out of the title picture, and he had suffered a series of losses to Akiyama and was probably at a standstill.
“He contacted me directly, not through any organization, and said, ‘I want to participate in AEW.’ Was he asking for a turning point for himself?
“Of course, the truth was that I did not have the power to do so, so he wanted me to tell Kenny about it.”
Kenny Omega previously acted as a mentor for Takeshita while both stars were wrestling for DDT Pro.
Both men will be competing in the Elite vs Blackpool Combat Club Blood & Guts match on the July 19 edition of Dynamite, with Takeshita joining the BCC for this match.
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