Mar 21 26th Anniversary show Preview! Konosuke Takeshita Interview. First Singles Match…Takeshita bares it all in this “family quarrel”: Sanshiro Takagi is the best person to question the current DDT.

Dropping a stunner on Konosuke Takeshita, actively wrestling in AEW over at America at the January 1^st Korakuen show, is Sanshiro Takagi. They’ll be having their very first singles match ever since Takeshita’s debut 10 years ago. What are the reasons behind this encounter?

<h2>“Takagi has always went the opposite direction I have. I hope he goes all-out as a wrestler.” </h2>
――For someone not contracted it is normal but to think that it took 10 years to have your singles match (against Takagi) is rare.
Takeshita: It is, you’d think this has happened a long time ago but…wrestling is all about timing and if I debuted 5 years earlier Takagi would still be an active wrestler in the KO-D Openweight title scene and as the hot rising star it would’ve happened. However when I debuted he was already focused on the Hentai Daishacho tag team scene.

――He focused on what he wanted to do instead of being active as the top of the promotion
Takeshita: That’s definitely a factor and a reason why it didn’t happen. In a way, I went the opposite direction of Takagi. When I was main eventing Ryogoku Sumo Hall, he was in the first match against Isami (Ryogoku Ultimate Party November 3^rd 2019). To me that was the best example. My first match in Osaka after I debuted was also my first time going against Takagi. (Bodymaker Colosseum 2^nd Hall September 16^th 2012). It was Takagi & Hino against Ibushi and myself. That time, Matsunaga (Tomomitsu) said “Takagi would love to wrestle all the exciting young talents, be it singles or tag matches”. Back then Ibushi had the singles match and Masada already did, but I was an exception.

――Do you think psychologically there was a reason for it not happening?
Takeshita: Even if Takagi felt that “he didn’t want to wrestle Takeshita” I feel that I want to challenge him at my peak.

――Truly the best of both worlds.
Takeshita: Exactly. However, I don’t know when I’ll be at my peak and if I wait for that day…you won’t get what you want from waiting. I have to go for it when I can. That’s why I wanted to have it my way this year at Korakuen.

――Had you not mentioned it at Korakuen, that singles perhaps may never happen at all.
Takeshita: I feel the same too. Well, perhaps its due to his experience in America but his shoulders are much better, so I don’t want to miss this opportunity. In the future he might put his focus more on managing the company than being a wrestler so the match might end up being like Vince McMahon against Stone Cold but Vince was a manager first and got in the ring later. Sanshiro Takagi is the opposite so I want to face him while I still can.

――During you ALL OUT days you mentioned that you “wanted a singles match against Takagi. Takagi is the best All Outer”. Do you still remember that?
Takeshita: There’s a lot of travel time in America so I rewatch old DDT footage during that time. Rewatching the 2004-2009 period he was really at the forefront of the DDT scene then. Nowadays there’s a variety of them, with The37KAMIINA for example being a popular unit making waves in many fronts. On the flipside, that period of DDT was Takagi literally carrying the entire promotion on his very back alone.

――It was Takagi house, in the ring and behind the scenes.
Takeshita: I really want to see that fierce Takagi in the ring once again I thought.

――Due to real life, its been 14 years since that period. Perhaps we could see it once again?
Takeshita: I’ll make him turn back time. That’s the theme beyond wins and losses. If we’re going at it in singles for the first time, that’s my driving force behind this match.

――He mentioned that there’s no meaning to this match if he couldn’t bring back the peak Sanshiro Takagi. He promised to bring back the “childish, bullshittery and going overboard”. Well, he’s an opponent you can’t really face head-on.
Takeshita: I’m fine with whatever he brings, but can he hang with me all the way…Wrestling that goes beyond my expectations has recently became lesser. I want to see a Sanshiro Takagi that surpasses all what Konosuke Takeshita expects. It’s not about Takagi’s style nor DDT’s style of wrestling. I want him to go ALL OUT. When it comes to managing a wrestling promotion, he could be one of the most unique ones. In a different perspective, it’s not a stretch to even call him #1. Running, DDT, TJPW, Ganbare, WRESTLE-1 back then, working with Pro Wrestling NOAH lately, he’s the president who ran Keiji Mutoh’s retirement show at the Tokyo Dome. He’s literally the only man in the whole world who did it. I’m sure for DDT to become bigger going forward, Sanshiro Takagi the manager will be essential. This is why I’ll ask him here: Have you really gone All Out as a wrestler? At this rate, you’ll end your career as a third-rate wrestler.

――It is true that he has been focusing efforts on managing instead of being a wrestler and we’re unsure if he still want to keep at it in the ring.
Takeshita: Exactly. That’s why I hope that he lays it all in the ring against me. If he feels like he cannot go any further, he can retire as it is. On the other hand, I also hope that he feels that he can still keep going. I even hope that he says he’ll win the KO-D Openweight Championship too. I want to see the Sanshiro Takagi who wanted to surpass Atsushi Onita. If he doesn’t, why would I even return form Japan. I don’t plan on working at his level, I hope he can keep it up at my level. Perhaps his shoulder might even stiff up during the match.

<h2>What happens when I go head to head with the man who pays homage to WWE in the ring...</h2>
――Thinking about it, it feels like Sanshiro Takagi is going up against one of the top guys in AEW in a one-on-one situation.