AEW Star Loses Major Championship

AEW

An AEW star has now lost his championship, dropping the gold in a Winner Takes All match in another promotion.

The co-main event of NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20 saw a double-championship match take place, with IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji and IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Konosuke Takeshita both putting their titles on the line.

Yota Tsuji was ultimately victorious, pinning the AEW, NJPW and DDT-Pro contracted star to walk out of the Tokyo Dome with both championships.

This marked the end of Konosuke Takeshita’s 83 day reign with NJPW’s top title, with Takeshita having won the gold from Zack Sabre Jr at the October 13, 2025 King of Pro-Wrestling event.

Takeshita successfully defended the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship once during his reign, against Hirooki Goto at the November 2, 2025 Hiroshi Tanahashi – Final Homecoming event.

Konosuke Takeshita recently addressed criticisms about not being on the road with NJPW during his reign as the company’s top champion, which you can read more about right here.

Yota Tsuji’s Winner Takes All victory marked his second defence of the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship, with Tsuji also winning his gold at King of Pro Wrestling – from Gabe Kidd – and defending it at Hiroshi Tanahashi – Final Homecoming, against Hiroshi Tanahashi.

NJPW previously confirmed that both Yota Tsuji and Konosuke Takeshita will be in action at the January 5 New Year Dash event.

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• AEW
• NJPW
• champion
• Konosuke Takeshita

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