2025 G1 Climax Winner Konosuke Takeshita is now the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion after dethroning Zack Sabre Jr. on Monday. The win marked the top of an extended saga between NJPW and Takeshita, as detailed by former NJPW star and Takeshita’s Don Callis Family stablemate, Rocky Romero on X (formerly Twitter).
“You already know what the largest mistake NJPW ever made was? Not accepting Konosuke Takeshita into the dojo,” Romero wrote. “That is right—his dream was simply to compete here, and so they turned him away. And now? Now he stands as YOUR IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. The person NJPW rejected is best than each wrestler on this roster. That is the true slap within the face to each so-called NJPW fan.”
Romero went on to lambast former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Hirooki Goto for taking until the age of 45 to perform all that Takeshita has completed.
“Hirooki Goto? He’ll fail like he all the time has,” Romero continued. “He’s a loser. He’s all the time been a loser. Goto finally won at 45, but Takeshita? He became champion at 30. That is the difference. That is the truth. And deep down, NJPW fans are furious because they realize it—Takeshita is larger than everyone in Recent Japan.”
Takeshita is seeking to add more gold to his resume, as the previous AEW International Champion will team with Unified Champion Kazuchika Okada to tackle AEW World Tag Team Champions Bandido and Brody King on the upcoming WrestleDream event on October 18, though the 2 men have been less-than-amicable of their teaming to this point.