Konosuke Takeshita joined All Elite Wrestling in 2021 after a decade of career in DDT Pro Wrestling. Takeshita is currently aligning with the Don Callis family on AEW television.
The Alpha last competed in AEW on the March 27th episode of Dynamite, where he lost to Swerve Strickland in the AEW World Championship No. 1 contender match.
In an interview with DDT Pro Wrestling, Konosuke Takeshita stated that he hadn’t enjoyed wrestling since moving to America.
“I thought hard work could cover for everything else before getting there. If I showed how good I am I could get more airtime, but there are other aspects that come to play when competing here (in America). Discrimination is not the word here but unfortunately, there’s a lack of space for an Asian person to be on a TV show watched by Americans. No matter how good my condition was nor the amount of matches I was put it, or how many times they said my match was good, it felt like I couldn’t make it in the starting lineup, to put it in Baseball terms.
Everyone felt like they’re having fun Wrestling here (in Japan). I didn’t had any fun wrestling ever since I got to America. The effort was bearing fruit, but I didn’t feel the enjoyment. It was the most mentally exhausting period in all 12 years of my wrestling career. However, when I stopped having fun, my matches were better received and I gained more recognition. And it’s not proportional.”
Konosuke Takeshita is scheduled to face Jon Moxley in an IWGP World Heavyweight Championship Eliminator match on May 26th at AEW Double or Nothing.