AEW star Konosuke Takeshita has been confirmed for an upcoming championship match when NJPW returns to the United States.
Having competed at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20 and New Year Dash!! earlier this month, Konosuke Takeshita is heading to New Beginning on February 27.
Takeshita teamed with Rocky Romero as The Don Callis Family saw victory over El Phantasmo & Shoma Kato at New Year Dash!! on January 5.
This came after his loss to Yota Tsuji, which saw the AEW star lose the IWGP World Heavyweight title to the Global Heavyweight Champion, and an old championship resurrected.
Takeshita will now be in action at NJPW New Beginning USA on February 27, taking on El Phantasmo for the World Television Championship.
The match announcement was confirmed on the official NJPW website, which states:
The first NJPW title offically set to be defended on US soil in 2026 will be the NJPW World TV Championship as Konosuike Takeshita challenges El Phantasmo. Phantasmo and Takeshita topped and tailed Wrestle Kingdom with ELP picking up a successful defence of his TV gold in the kickoff at the Tokyo Dome, while Takeshita fell in defeat in the semi main event, losing his IWGP World Heavyweight Championship to Yota Tsuji.
The night after WK20 saw ELP and Takeshita locking horns at New Year Dash, where tensions flared anew between the two competitors. This will be the fifth singles meeting between the two, with Takeshita scoring a pair of wins over ELP, including in the US at last year’s Resurgence card. Phantasmo, for his part, has recorded a defence of World TV gold over the Alpha, but only via time limit draw last May at Dontaku. it seemed as if victory over Takeshita would remain out of ELP’s reach until G1 opening weekend in Sapporo last summer, where Phantasmo finally got the win over Takeshita in 15 minutes and two seconds of match time.
There are 15 minute time limits on every NJPW World TV title match, meaning if their G1 Climax 35 bout had been under TV title rules, it would have ended in another draw. ELP will not be playing for time in Trenton, but rather looking to retain his title with a clean win. For Takeshita meanwhile, capturing the TV title would add new dimension to his international television footprint; who will claim the gold at New Beginning USA?
In singles action, El Phantasmo defeated Takeshita in the G1 Climax 2025 tournament back in July with their NJPW World Television Championship match ended in a fifteen-minute time limit draw.
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