Konosuke Takeshita will leave New York this weekend with more gold than before, but undoubtedly also with a broken heart.
Shortly after capturing the AEW International Championship at the promotion’s Double or Nothing pay-per-view, joining a short list of names in the company to have scored a singles win over Kazuchika Okada, Takeshita was booted from the heel Don Callis Family faction.
The news of Takeshita’s exit from the group was delivered by Kyle Fletcher, who took out Takeshita with a hard lariat, then a teardrop brainbuster as other members of the group watched nearby.
The sudden twist within AEW’s biggest faction emerged following a fast-paced 19-minute contest between two of the company’s most skilled Japanese talents.
Takeshita and Okada worked at an unbelievable speed for the entirety of their match, including numerous intricate near-misses of finishers. Don Callis made Okada resist giving Takeshita a piledriver to the floor at one point, a pause which allowed Takeshita to instead hit a suplex on the floor moments later.
Okada kicked out at one after taking a Rainmaker then a Powerdrive Knee late in the match, but was finally put away moments later when Takeshita scored his Raging Fire finisher.
Okada and Takeshita had been butting heads inside the Don Callis Family for months, both battling to be the “Michael Jordan” of the group.
Okada previously faced Takeshita as part of the 2025 Continental Classic tournament, controversially using a screwdriver as a weapon to beat the then-IWGP World Heavyweight Champion in the tour’s semi-final.
The AEW International Championship was held by Okada for over 300 days. He first captured the belt at All In: Texas last year, defeating long-time rival Kenny Omega in a double title bout.
Sunday’s result marked the first time that Okada has lost a singles match since he dropped the AEW Continental Championship to Jon Moxley last year.
Along with his new AEW gold, Takeshita remains NJPW’s World Television Champion, a title he won off El Phantasmo earlier this year.
