Why Konosuke Takeshita Chose AEW Over WWE Revealed

Konosuke Takeshita has been a featured part of All Elite Wrestling since officially signing with the company in late 2022, with Takeshita having significant high profile victories over Kenny Omega in the latter half of the year.

Takeshita is now one of the top heels in the organisation due to his association with The Don Callis Family, and during a conversation with DDT Pro's official website team, Takeshita divulged why he signed with AEW instead of trying for WWE:

“When I lost the KO-D belt to Tetsuya Endo at Ryogoku Kokugikan last March, I said, ‘This is the second chapter for Konosuke Takeshita…’ As a champion, I had already been around the world one or two times, so I felt that the only way to show what I could do was to cross the ocean. So the choice was WWE or AEW. At that time, there were not that many main male wrestlers in AEW, and moreover, there were no Japanese who wore the singles belt, except for women. I wanted to do something that no one else was doing. At that point, I wasn’t sure if AEW would become as huge as it is now, but it was still a choice I made.

“Then, over the next year or so, the number of wrestlers steadily increased, and I don’t think I would have had a chance if I had waited another year. It was all a matter of timing… When the Coronavirus pandemic made it impossible for Japanese professional wrestling to make its voice heard, I thought to myself, this is no good for me to be wrestling. I’ve been doing it for 10 years, so I’ve had enough. I went to the U.S. because I wanted to give it one last try, and I think that may have been my destiny. I wouldn’t be where I am today without AEW, which guided me, and DDT, which sent me here, so the best way for me to repay them would be to fight Chris Jericho,” said Takeshita.

H/T: POST Wrestling