AEW's Konosuke Takeshita & Yuka Sakazaki Are Married (AEW News)

AEW's Konosuke Takeshita confirms marriage to Yuka Sakazaki,

Konosuke Takeshita Yuka Sakazaki
Instagram @realtakesoup

In a rare glimpse into his personal life, AEW's Konosuke Takeshita has taken to social media to introduce the world to his wife and his dog. That'd be fellow AEW wrestler Yuka Sakazaki and a Goldendoodle named Kenshiro.

Posted on Takeshita's official Instagram page:

Konosuke Takeshita Yuka Sakazaki
Instagram @realtakesoup

While Takeshita's comments were in Japanese, Instagram's translation tool converted those words to:

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It's personal, but today I'll introduce my family.
I'm about to turn 30. Even though I'm trying to grow up a little better, I still have a lot of things I can't accomplish. It is quicker to name 100 things he can't do than 10 things he can do.
My wife Yuka helps me do these 100 things every day with a few faces, and instead of patting me on the back, she gives me a pat. You are always there for me to share my happiness and my sadness. And thus one dog came to us who lived the American life on a tripod.
Did you sense something when you saw us? Kenshiro the Goldendoodle was supposed to be a miniature but he's growing bigger and bigger.
I will continue to work hard to make sure that Yuka and Kenshiro live their days happily.
It is upon me that kind of report.
From now on, I will give my all to fight with care in the ring, one match, one match, so I hope you will continue to work with me.
Konosuke & Yuka & Kenshiro

Konosuke Takeshita & Yuka Sakazaki

The vast majority of wrestling fans will have likely been completely unaware that Konosuke Takeshita and Yuka Sakazaki were a couple, let alone a married one. And let's not forget Kenshiro, because who doesn't appreciate a good doggo.

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For Yuka, she last wrestled for AEW on the 29 January episode of Dynamite, where she came up short in her attempts to dethrone Mercedes Monè for the TBS Championship. That said, she did technically wrestle in an AEW ring a couple of days later, beating Viva Van as part of this year's Jericho Cruise.

A former TJPW Princess of Princess Champion and a four-time Princess Tag Team Champion, Sakazaki made her AEW debut at the company's first-ever event, the inaugural Double or Nothing back in 2019. There, Yuka teamed with Emi Sakura and the legendary Aja Kong in a loss to Hikaru Shida, Riho, and Ryo Mizunami. Since then, it's been a bit of a stop-start run for Yuka in AEW, with pandemic travel restrictions, injuries, and simply not being used, meaning the hugely talented Magical Girl has only wrestled 30 matches for Tony Khan's promotion.

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While Yuka Sakazaki may have been a more fleeting presence in AEW in recent years, Konosuke Takeshita has been a prominent figure for the company since arriving in 2021. A former AEW International Champion - not to mention, the current NEVER Openweight Champion - the Alpha has been regularly called on whenever Tony Khan has been in need of a great match, with Konosuke's most recent outing having been a six-man tag win for the Don Callis Family at Double or Nothing last weekend.

All the best to Konosuke and Yuka. And to Kenshiro, of course.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.