Konosuke Takeshita Wins IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at NJPW King of Pro-Wrestling

By: Noah Leatherland

The landscape of NJPW changes at King of Pro-Wrestling! In a night full of big title changes, none were more ground-shaking than Konosuke Takeshita ascending to the top of the company. ‘The Alpha’ followed up his G1 Climax victory by claiming the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.

Konosuke Takeshita walked into the Ryogoku Kokugikan looking to follow in the footsteps of his DDT mentors. Both Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi had won the G1 Climax and gone on to claim the grandest prize in NJPW. Standing in his way was the reigning champion, Zack Sabre Jr. In his second reign as IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, Sabre Jr. had already knocked down Nigel McGuinness and Ren Narita as challengers.

After over thirty minutes of technical expertise battling raw power and athleticism, a final Power Drive knee finally bested the champion. The golden confetti rained down on Konosuke Takeshita, the G1 Climax trophy by his side and the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship around his waist. Takeshita had a message for New Japan fans after the bout.

Alright, I’ve taken the belt! You guys, what are you thinking right now? Is that booing? Or is it cheering?

To those of you cheering right now, I’m going to entertain you for life, so look forward to it.

Now that I’ve taken the IWGP, I’m gonna make every fight extraordinary. I’ll break through to a world where Japanese pro wrestling, us wrestlers, and you fans can all proudly declare that pro-wrestling is number one.

I know exactly what it means to have won this belt, so you guys better get excited.

(Translation courtesy of meraWRESTLING)

It did not take long for Konosuke Takeshita’s first challenger to stake their claim. Hirooki Goto confronted the new champion. In his post-show comments, Takeshita acknowledged that he will defend against Goto before January 4th.

Of course, Tokyo Dome on January 4th is on my mind. But I don’t for a second think that just because I won once, I’ve earned the right to stand as champion on the Tokyo Dome stage. I’ll take on Goto before the Dome. Goto, you better look forward to it.

(Translation courtesy of meraWRESTLING)

Konosuke Takeshita was not the only person to claim gold at King of Pro-Wrestling. The event started with Sareee defending the IWGP Women’s Championship against Syuri. This was the duo’s third encounter in 2025. The first went to a time limit draw at Sareee-ISM Chapter VII. The second saw Sareee defeat Syuri for the title at Stardom in June. This time, Syrui managed to even out the record to 1-1-1 as she defeated Sareee to claim the IWGP Women’s Championship.

EVIL claimed the NEVER Openweight Championship from Oleg Boltin. The House of Torture mobbed Boltin after the match, but they were warded off by the yet-to-debut Aaron Wolf. Yota Tsuji also got his hands on some hardware. He battled Gabe Kidd over the IWGP Global Championship, coming out the victor and gaining the white belt. This led to a curious scene after the match. The War Dogs and the unaffiliated members of the roster took to the ring and shook hands.

Others managed to hold onto their gold at King of Pro-Wrestling. El Phantasmo wrestled Hiroshi Tanahashi to a fifteen minute draw, managing to keep a hold of the NJPW World Television Championship. The event also marked El Phantasmo’s 20th wrestling anniversary. Later in the card, Yuto-Ice and OSKAR kept a tight grip on their recently won IWGP Tag Team Championships, defeating the duo of Yuya Uemura and Shota Umino.

Here are the full results of NJPW King of Pro-Wrestling, courtesy of purolove.com:

• IWGP Women’s Title: Syuri def. Sareee (c) (14:56)
• David Finlay, Taiji Ishimori & Clark Connors def. Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi & Titan (7:58)
• Drilla Moloney def. SANADA (13:37)
• Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & YOH def. Ryohei Oiwa, Hartley Jackson & Kosei Fujita (7:55)
• NJPW World TV Title: El Phantasmo (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi – Time Limit Draw (15:00)
• NEVER Openweight Title: EVIL def. Oleg Boltin (11:40)
• IWGP Tag Team Titles: Yuto-Ice & OSKAR (c) def. Yuya Uemura & Shota Umino (14:40)
• IWGP Global Heavyweight Title: Yota Tsuji def. Gabe Kidd (c) (24:13)
• IWGP World Heavyweight Title: Konosuke Takeshita def. Zack Sabre Jr. (c) (31:16)