Photo Credit: NJPW
By: Lewis Carlan
After KONOSUKE TAKESHITA won the New Japan Pro-Wrestling G1 Climax 35 tournament, he stated he wanted to go into Wrestle Kingdom 20 as the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. Well, TAKESHITA will have his chance as he will get the IWGP World Heavyweight Title opportunity he earned by winning the G1 Climax 35. His title opportunity will take place at the NJPW King of Pro Wrestling event on Oct. 13th.
TAKESHITA will challenging either the current IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr. or Ren Narita on Oct. 13th. Sabre Jr. will be putting his title on the line against Narita on Sept. 28th at NJPW Destruction in Kobe.
Image Credit: NJPW
Narita holds a victory over Sabre Jr. on July 19th in a G1 Climax 2025 Block B match-up that he was able to parlay into a world title opportunity. Sabre Jr. indicated that he wanted to avenge his losses in the G1 Climax 35 and will begin with Narita on Sept. 28th.
Another wrestler that holds a victory over Sabre Jr. in the G1 Climax 35 is TAKESHITA which occurred in a thrilling semi-final showdown between the two. TAKESHITA did indicate in a past interview that he wants to win the IWGP Title from Sabre Jr and would like to do it sooner rather than later.
With that said, TAKESHITA knew about Sabre Jr. defending his title at Forbidden Door against Nigel McGuiness but the Narita match must have come as a surprise to the G1 Climax 35 winner. One has to wonder if there is any frustration on the part of TAKESHITA that despite winning the G1 Climax 35 Tournament, he still has to wait in line for his title opportunity behind Ren Narita.
TAKESHITA ultimate goal is to head into Wrestle Kingdom 20 at the Tokyo Dome on Jan. 4th 2026 as the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. On Oct.13th either Zack Sabre Jr. or Ren Narita will be standing in his way and you can bet TAKESHITA will be poised and ready to make that goal become a reality.
Image Credit: NJPW
Date:
August 26, 2025
Category:
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