Tony Khan Expresses Gratitude To Kenny Omega For Bringing Konosuke Takeshita To AEW

Tony Khan is grateful to have ‘The Alpha’ in AEW.

It was in 2021 that Konosuke Takeshita arrived at All Elite Wrestling. Fast forward to present day, Takeshita is signed to AEW, DDT, and New Japan Pro-Wrestling. He is the current IWGP World Heavyweight Champion and a former NEVER Openweight and AEW International Champion.

Praise was thrown Takeshita’s way by AEW President Tony Khan. Khan appeared on Busted Open and spoke about Takeshita, and Khan went on to express gratitude to Kenny Omega for bringing him to the company. Khan said Takeshita reminds him of a young Barry Windham.

“With (Konosuke) Takeshita, it was Kenny Omega, who first came to me and said, ‘I really believe in Takeshita, and if you give him an opportunity here, I think you’re really gonna like him,’ and boy was Kenny right. I mean, Kenny’s a wrestling genius himself, and I was just talking with Kenny about this the other night because Kenny and I flew home together after WrestleDream — back to Florida — and we were talking on the flight back and I am very grateful to Kenny because when he brought that kid here, he was on to something. You could see it from when Takeshita first got here. He was like a big athlete. Sometimes I compare Takeshita to Barry Windham. I think when I first saw him, I saw this tall kid that glides effortlessly through the ring and just glides, and he’s so crisp with everything he does, and I couldn’t put my finger on it, but then, when I watched a few of his matches, I said, ‘Barry Windham,’ and I feel like the way he’s improved and continuously got better and better, again, it reminds me of seeing young Barry Windham coming into his own and I’m really excited because I think Takeshita’s had great mentorship, and here in AEW, we really believe in him and he’s risen to these opportunities.”

At AEW WrestleDream, Takeshita had the opportunity to obtain another title when he and Kazuchika Okada challenged Brodido (Bandido & Brody King) for the AEW World Tag Team Championship.

They were unsuccessful as Bandido pinned Okada, but there was a point during the bout when Okada accidentally struck Takeshita. Okada smiled afterward and gave the middle finger to Takeshita.

If the quote in this article is used, please credit Busted Open with an H/T to Fightful for the transcription.