Konosuke Takeshita praises Will Ospreay following their match at AEW Revolution.
At AEW Revolution, Konosuke Takeshita battled Will Ospreay in a thrilling match. Ospreay scored the win, and the buzzworthy bout has been considered one of the best matches of 2024 so far.
Speaking with DDT Pro-Wrestling's official website, Takeshita was asked to share his thoughts on the match. (Translation via DeepL)
"It wasn't so much that I had a great response, but I was surprised at how well I was received. The next day, I was approached by every single person at the venue, including the players, staff, referee, and camera crew. That was the first time I had heard that since I came here. The wrestler said to me, "Takeshita and Ospreay may fight many times in the future, but how will they get over the hurdle if they have such a great match at the beginning? And. No, no, no, I haven't done that much yet...I feel like I haven't done that much yet. So I felt that if I did it two or three times, I could do more," Takeshita said.
Takeshita was then asked whether he felt a sense of accomplishment that he had come this far, as he did when he faced Bryan Danielson, Kenny Omega, Jon Moxley, and Chris Jericho. He noted that, unlike the others, he found a rival in Ospreay.
"Up until now, I had a sense of 'I've come this far to compete with such great fighters,' but with Ospreay, going back to what I said earlier, he is a wrestler of my generation, so I felt that he would be more of a rival than a great top fighter. I had already made a post about this, but I felt that 'after 12 years of wrestling, I finally found a rival,'" Takeshita said.
Takeshita then praised Ospreay's performance, his preparation, his physicality, his wrestling mind, and his spirit. He noted that he felt Ospreay's athletic strength from the start and highlighted how they have different strengths.
"The same goes for his performance in the ring, his preparation for the match, his physicality, his wrestling mind, his spirit during the match, and his awareness that he would never lose to this guy. I didn't have a chance to feel that much athletic strength when I came to the U.S., but with Ospreay, I felt that from the very beginning. I was aware that he was better than me in terms of high-flying moves, of course, but in terms of power, I was a little better than him. I had a gut feeling about this long before our match this time," Takeshita said.
After looking back on meeting Ospreay in 2019, Takeshita was asked about his previous comment that Ospreay was one of the best in the world. The interviewer noted that Ospreay could be considered a yardstick in Takeshita's quest to become the best in the world.
"That would be true. I truly believe that the best wrestler in the world is Ospreay, and there is an American version of the Pro Wrestling Awards that pro wrestlers vote for, and Ospreay is the MVP. I thought (the world's No. 1) was not far away after competing against him," Takeshita said.
Check out Ospreay's comments about his match against Takeshita here.
Click here to see what Ospreay had to say about his interaction with Ric Flair at AEW Revolution.
Fightful will have coverage of AEW Dynamite: Big Business as it airs on March 13.
