Konosuke Takeshita Returns To Japan After AEW Run

The Future's memorable, banger-filled US excursion has come to an end.

by Andrew Pollard
Jon Moxley Konosuke Takeshita
AEW

While we knew it was coming, we didn't know when exactly Konosuke Takeshita's time in the US would officially come to an end (at least, for now).

The DDT standout took to Twitter over the weekend to bid farewell to America and to confirm that he is indeed now on his way back to Japan.

Echoing the sentiments of Takeshita there, these past four months have been quite the whirlwind for the 27-year-old as he introduced himself in a major way to an audience who may not be familiar with his prior work in DDT and beyond.

Across the Future's US excursion, he put on utter bangers in AEW with the likes of interim AEW World Champion Jon Moxley, ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli, 'Hangman' Adam Page, and Eddie Kingston, in addition to impressing elsewhere in bouts against Jonathan Gresham for Terminus, Daniel Garcia for PWG, and Josh Alexander for Garden State Pro Wrestling.

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Takeshita's most recent match was last night at PROGRESS 137, where he picked up a win over Leon Slater at Sheffield, England's O2 Academy. Up next, Konosuke's return to Japan will see him compete at DDT Wrestle Peter Pan 2022 on 20 August, where he'll team with the 37Kamiina cohort Mao and Yasu Urano to take on Dick Togo and Damnation TA.

AEW President Tony Khan would clearly love to have Takeshita return to the fold at some point in the future, but recent reports also state how WWE could have a major interest in the star.

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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, Jamie Hayer, 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.