AEW’s Claudio Castagnoli Accepts Shingo Takagi’s Challenge for NJPW Destruction in Kobe

By: Noah Leatherland

After failing to make it out of the block stage in the G1 Climax, Shingo Takagi blamed his poor run on AEW’s Claudio Castagnoli and challenged him to a match at NJPW Destruction in Kobe. On the ‘Road to’ event in Korakuen Hall, Takagi got his answer from the Death Riders’ ‘Emissary of Violence’.

Takagi teamed with Robbie X to earn a victory of Master Wato and Oleg Boltin, only for the celebrations to be cut short by a video playing on the venue’s big screen.

Castagnoli last wrestled in Japan at the NJPW x AEW event Wrestle Dynasty back in January 2025. There, he defeated Shota Umino in the Tokyo Dome. Destruction in Kobe is set to be a first time encounter, as Castagnoli and Takagi have never faced each other one-on-one.

Following his tag match, Takagi had some more words for Castagnoli backstage:

Claudio is a truly, truly great legend. He’s won ROH’s top title and a WWE title, too. He’s two years older than me—I don’t know if he’s 45 or 46—but when I see someone as tall and strong as you, I just can’t help but want to beat you!

(Quote translated via DeepL)

Some vital momentum heading into Destruction was picked up elsewhere on the card. YOH teamed with Hirooki Goto and took on their Kobe opponents, Taiji Ishimori and Yota Tsuji. YOH, the reigning IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, pinned his challenger with the Gedo Clutch to secure the victory for his side. Winning the early momentum is important, but there is still a long road to Kobe.

NJPW Destruction in Kobe takes place on September 27th in the Kobe World Hall.

Here are the full results for NJPW Road to Destruction in Kobe Day 2:

• Tatsuya Matsumoto def. Yushin Hatazawa (7:15)
• Great-O-Khan, HENARE & Jakob Austin Young def. Shota Umino, Taisei Nakahara & YOSHI-HASHI (12:18)
• DOUKI, SHO & Shun Skywalker def. El Desperado, Masatora Yasuda & Ryusuke Taguchi (9:54)
• Daiki Nagai & Jeff Cobb def. Callum Newman & Zane Jay (10:23)
• Gedo, OSKAR & Yuto-Ice def. Togi Makabe, Toru Yano & Jado (8:03)
• Aaron Wolf, Taichi & Yuya Uemura def. Hartley Jackson, Kosei Fujita & Ryohei Oiwa (9:37)
• Robbie X & Shingo Takagi def. Master Wato & Oleg Boltin (11:40)
• Hirooki Goto & YOH def. Taiji Ishimori & Yota Tsuji (13:30)