Claudio Castagnoli Accepts Shingo Takagi’s Challenge for NJPW Destruction

AEW star Claudio Castagnoli has accepted Shingo Takagi’s challenge for NJPW Destruction in Kobe on September 27.

Earlier this morning, New Japan Pro-Wrestling shared a video in which Castagnoli accepted Takagi’s challenge.

The match came into being after Shingo Takagi blamed Claudio Castagnoli for his poor performance in the recent G1 Climax tournament. Takagi finished the tournament with a 4-5 record and then claimed that a defeat to Claudio in a tag team match on AEW Collision this past July destroyed his momentum heading into G1 Climax.

In response, the Death Riders member mocked Takagi for winning and declared he’ll see the latter at NJPW Destruction on September 27. “You want me to come to Kobe to teach you another lesson? No problem! But judging by what you said, that means you’ll have another two years of bad luck coming afterwards,” Claudio said. Check out his message below:

Shingo Takagi's challenge for 9/27 in Kobe has been answered!

A message from @claudioCSRO!#njdest pic.twitter.com/rFtmfyoFpO

— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) September 9, 2026

This will be the first singles battle between Claudio and Shingo and the first match for the former in Japan since January 2025. Below is the updated card for NJPW Destruction 2026:

* Jeff Cobb vs. Callum Newman
* Ryohei Oiwa, Hartley Jackson & Kosei Fujita vs. Yuya Uemura, Aaron Wolf & Taichi
* NJPW World Television Championship Match: Konosuke Takeshita [c] vs. Shun Skywalker
* Shingo Takagi vs. Claudio Castagnoli
* IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match: Yota Tsuji [c] vs. Hirooki Goto