AEW’s Bryan Danielson has heaped praised Konosuke Takeshita after their match on AEW Dynamite, comparing the Japanese star to the “best wresters in the world.
On the January 11th edition of AEW Dynamite, Danielson stepped into the ring with Takeshita as part of his storyline feud with MJF. The American Dragon is on a win streak in the company and hopes to keep it up to earn himself a shot at MJF’s AEW Championship. If he continues to win all his matches in the lead up to their bout, he will wrestle the champion in a 60 man Iron Man Match at AEW Revolution 2023.
He managed to get the win against the Japanese star in an impressive match that did more to put over Takeshita than any victory could. It was a hard hitting, yet surprisingly technical bout. It also contained some fantastic power moves by Takeshita, who used his immense strength to reverse and counter many different attempts by Danielson – including a ridiculous honor roll pin into a German Suplex that had the crowd on their feet.
Bryan Danielson made him pass out in the ring to win the match, but had some complimentary things to say about the future star after the match. AEW shared a backstage video of Danielson talking about the match, in which he called Takeshita “one of the best wrestlers in the world”, knowing he’ll be considered one of the best of all time once his career is over in 20 years time.
Tonight I finally got the chance to wrestle Takeshita. I was really looking forward to it. I’d heard a lot of people who I’ve wrestled, when they wrestled Takeshita, they said, ‘Oh, man, that guy’s great,’ and I got to feel it. It’s one thing to watch somebody, and I watch him, and you see, for how young he is, he’s in his 20s, he looks so good. It looks like he hits so hard. But I want to feel it.
It’s one of the things I love about wrestling is feeling [when I’m] out there. When we got out there, and he hit me with the first forearm, I felt it. I felt, this guy is special. I’ve been in the ring with some of the best wrestlers in the world, some of the best wrestlers of all time. I think, by the end, we’re gonna be talking about Takeshita in the same way.
Takeshita signed an AEW contract in November 2022, after an excursion with the company earlier that year. He still wrestles for his home promotion (DDT) but looks to become a big star in the United States going forward if he continues to improve in the ring and with his personality. Given the fact AEW placed him with a big star like Danielson, and before the match gave him a promo segment with AEW Champion MJF, shows just how much they value him in the company.
