A big AEW star will compete for a prestigious championship in NJPW in the first week of 2026. This massive news has made rounds throughout the entire professional wrestling industry.
Konosuke Takeshita has been the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion for the past few months in NJPW. He recently successfully defended his championship against Hirooki Goto at Gifu Memorial Deai Dome. After his match, the AEW star was confronted by his former rival and IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion, Yota Tsuji. The two stars had a stern face-off where they both held their titles above their heads to assert their supremacy.
After this serious interaction, NJPW announced that the two stars would face off on January 6, 2026 at Wrestle Kingdom 20 at Tokyo Dome. This will be a winner-take-all match, where the winner will become both the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion and the World Heavyweight Champion.
So far, Takeshita and Tsuji have faced each other twice, each holding a victory. Their upcoming clash at Wrestle Kingdom now stands as the ultimate decider of their rivalry. That said, it will be interesting to see how things pan out for Takeshita ahead of this high-stakes battle.
AEW’s Konosuke Takeshita Breaks His Silence After Recent NJPW Win
Konosuke Takeshita recently gave a dominant performance to defeat Hirooki Goto. It was an incredible battle that proved to The Alpha that he was the top star in New Japan. Following her victory, the 30-year-old star shared a confident message with her fans.
Speaking to X, the Japanese superstar shared a photo with the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship following his victory. He reminded his fans that he is still the NJPW champion with bold letters.
“ALWAYS!!!!” he wrote
Check out post X below
Takeshita has also been involved in serious tension with Kazuchika Okada within AEW as of late. Therefore, he now has a lot going for him in professional wrestling.
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Edited by Anugrah Tyagi
