Konosuke Takeshita On Why He Chose AEW Over WWE, Getting Chris Jericho For a Match in DDT Pro

Konosuke Takeshita is set to face Chris Jericho at DDT Pro’s Ultimate Party 2023 this weekend, and he recently discussed the match, choosing AEW over WWE and more. Takeshita spoke with Sports Illustrated’s Justin Barrasso for an interview promoting the match and some highlights are below:

On coming to America: “After becoming the KO-D champion so many times, and setting the record for the most defenses, I felt that there was nothing more I could do in DDT. It was like the end of the first season. So I needed to start “season two” of the Konosuke Takeshita show, and it needed to be more exciting. That is why I decided to go to America.”

On why he chose AEW over WWE: “AEW has a lot of wrestlers and superstars that everyone knows. I was still a nobody in the long history of wrestling. I thought it would be cool if I could beat those superstars in exciting matches. And AEW is the most powerful wrestling organization right now. I wanted to be in the mainstream.”

On facing Kenny Omega: “The number-one reason I came to AEW was to wrestle Kenny Omega. When I was in DDT with Kenny, I was just about two years into my career, and I was a teenager. Now that I have grown up and experienced many things, I wanted to fight again. After Kenny Omega left DDT, I tried to make DDT exciting in my own way. It was very difficult. The quality of the matches would change. I’ve been staring at the back of “The Best Bout Machine” for a long time.”

On Chris Jericho coming to DDT Pro: “The superstars who came to DDT in the past have been “former” superstars. I wanted to bring a “current” superstar to DDT. I felt like it was my mission to do that, because I’m now competing at the top of the U.S. scene. I’m glad I was able to make that happen in a big match in DDT.”

On his title aspirations in AEW: “My biggest goal right now is to become AEW champion. I’m 28 now, so I’d like to achieve that while I’m still in my 20s. That’s because I want to be a champion in the best physical condition possible, and I want to show everyone the best title match I can.”