Once upon a time – read: two months ago – Konosuke Takeshita was considered the best-kept secret in AEW.

The pride of Osaka, Japan, Takeshita is one of the most decorated performers in the history of DDT Pro Wrestling – the promotion responsible for a guy you may have heard of by the name of Kenny Omega – and opted to take an excursion to the United States once the travel restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic eased up to test his mettle against the best performers American had to offer.

After initially wrestling a few – literally – matches with Kenny Omega in AEW during the promotion's residency in Jacksonville, Takeshita became a “full-time” performer in Tony Khan's company on April 20th, when he wrestled Brandon Cutler on AEW Dark Elevation at the Petersen Events Center in “Brittsburgh” Pennsylvania. At the time, Takeshita was a relative unknown who was hardly considered AEW's next big thing, and yet, as the months went on and his performances garnered more and more recognition for just how gosh darn compelling they were, the reality set in: Konosuke Takeshita was going to be a star not just in DDT Pro Wrestling, but in wrestling, period.

His moves looked effortless, his physical strength was undeniable, and his suplexes were textbook, as one who wrote a thesis on the move should be able to do. Fans dazzled at his lariats, cheered on his in-ring efforts regardless of the outcome, and he was booked for higher profile matches with each passing week, culminating with a match for the Ring of Honor World Championship at Battle of the Belts III – a match Dave Meltzer gave 4.75 stars via The Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

And yet, in an announcement that few wanted to hear, that match will effectively serve as an American televised swan song for Meltzer, at least for now, as Takeshita, Cinnabon presumably in hand, boarded a plane to return to Japan for a string of dates in DDT. While there's little reason to believe he won't be back in the not-too-distant future, as every stateside promotion, even reportedly the WWE, would love to book “Takesoup” for a big-time bout in their squared circle.

Konosuke Takeshita made the most of his AEW opportunity.

“This year, I’m aiming for the TV show in All Elite Wrestling. I think I can get involved in the top ranks if I have the chance, and I think I can go there as a KO-D champion, so I’m ready to fight for the title in the United States.”

These words, spoken by Konosuke Takeshita to Tokyo Sports as dictated/translated/passed along by Sportskeeda, laid out a basic set of goals the DDT star set for himself ahead of his excursion to America to wrestle in AEW. While his goals were flawed from the start, as he touched down in America without a KO-D belt around his waist, he more than accomplished the first part of his declaration, as he was booked for a match on AEW Rampage versus Jay Lethal on May 4th, 2022, roughly two weeks after his in-ring re-debut.

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From there, Takeshita wrestled 12 more matches – 15 in total – in an AEW ring, including two bouts on Dark, three on Dark Elevation, three on Dynamite, three on Rampage, and the aforementioned bout on Battle of the Belts III. He wrestled against Ring of Honor champions new and old, including Lethal, Claudio Castagnoli, and Rhett Titus, against current/former AEW champions like Jon Moxley and “Hangman” Adam Page, and even against his biggest AEW Rival, Ryan Nemeth, whom he has wrestled in three of his 15 AEW matches in 2022.

If that was all Takeshita got out of his American excursion, it would certainly be impressive, but the man seemingly solely fueled by Cinnabon had just as prolific a run outside of Tony Khan's company as in it, as he took part in 14 more matches outside of AEW, including a PWG World Title shot versus Daniel Garcia, a time-limit draw versus Josh Alexander at Garden State PW, and a spot in a criminally short four-way match to decide the number 1 contenders sport for the Progress World Championship at Ric Flair's Last Match against Alan Angels, Nick Wayne, and eventual winner Jonathan Gresham, whom he also wrestled at Terminus 3.

Throw that all together, and you're left with a picture of a wrestler who made himself a star in a foreign land based on the sheer brilliance of his sugar-drenched in-ring action. Even if he'll be gone for a few months taking care of business in DDT Pro Wrestling, something tells me Konosuke Takeshita will be back in America and an AEW ring in the not too distant future, as his work in the United States is far from over.