In wrestling, there are very few moral victories. Sure, occasionally, a long-standing feud will end in such a way that both parties are elevated at the end of it, but for the most part, one performer wins, one performer loses – barring a 60-minute time limit draw like the one between “Hangman” Adam Page and Bryan Danielson at AEW's Winter Is Coming – and the two performers' respective pushes are affected accordingly.

And yet, if you were lucky enough to watch Konosuke Takeshita put on an absolute clinic against Claudio Castagnoli at AEW's Battle of the Belts III, you'd think the 27-year-old from Osaka, Japan was the brand new ROH World Championship by the way he was celebrated online. This, as you may or may not know, has become a bit of a trend for Takeshita, as the DDT Pro, currently on excursion from his home promotion, has become one of the hottest names inside and out of Tony Khan's promotion for his hard-hitting style, his supreme athleticism, and his ability to win over fans regardless of the language barrier.

Over a little under five months, Konosuke Takeshita has become a star.

Konosuke Takeshita has become AEW's first non-roster star.

When Konosuke Takeshita made his debut in All Elite Wrestling, it wasn't some exciting thing hyped up for months or even as a surprise debut on a big-time show with the eyes of the wrestling world affixed to a Tony Khan-promoted Pay-Per-View with a funny name. No, on April 20th, 2022, Takeshita took the ring during the pre-show of a random episode of AEW that was eventually broadcast from the Peterson Events Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on AEW Dark Elevation in a five-ish minute squash match against Brandon Cutler and then slowly but surely built up his win-loss record with… actually no, that isn't correct; Takeshita actually debuted in AEW all the way back in April of 2021, where Takeshita wrestled three matches, a singles bout versus Danny Limelight – remember him? – on Dark Elevation, a trios match with Kenny Omega and Michael Nakazawa versus Limelight, Matt Sydal, and his brother Mike, and finally on AEW The House Always Wins, the promotion's first House Show that saw Death Triangle plus the Sydals take care of the Young Bucks, Omega, Takeshita, and Nakazawa in a well-received match.

Back then, Takeshita had shorter hair, was a bit less “yoked out,” and was ultimately handed his ticket to return to Japan without much fanfare one way or another.

After this excursion, however, it'll be much harder for anyone to say Takeshita didn't make an impact, as the former star of DDT Pro has not only established himself as one of the brightest young stars to come out of Japan but one of the best young performers in wrestling, period – right up there with performers like Daniel Garcia who fired off the following tweet on his newfound friend's behalf.

Goodness, that's some pretty high praise from the man who calls himself the “Dragonslayer,” especially when you consider the strength of opponents Garcia has wrestled over the past few years.

Since making his return to AEW in that fateful match versus Cutler, Takeshita has wrestled many of the best performers the wrestling world has to offer, from losing to Jay Lethal in his Rampage debut to Adam Page in his Dynamite debut, to Jon Moxley in his first title match, to Claudio Castagnoli at Battle of the Belts III and a pair of losses to Jonathan Gresham, first at Terminus 3 and again at Ric Flair's Last Match in a criminally underrated match that also featured Alan Angels and Nick Wayne. Has Takeshita lost basically all of those big-time bouts? You bet, of his 27 matches in America, his biggest win is probably over “The American Wolf,” Davey Richards, Kevin Blackwood, or Nick Wayne, but hey, what else is the point of an excursion than to test one's mettle, wrestle a ton of dream matches, and get better and better with each passing match?

Regardless of how Takeshita came into AEW, of how his first run was so inconsequential that even some hardcore fans have forgotten it even happened, it's clear the pride of DDT Pro has made one heck of an impression on the promotion he's called home since March and will continue to be a massive draw any time he boards a plane from Japan to American with a set of wrestling trunks and a fully-loaded Cinnabon gift card in his bag. But hey, don't just take my word for it; here's what Kenny Omega had to say about his quasi-kohai all the way back in May.

“All this talk about the Forbidden Door and Konosuke Takeshita slides in through the mail slot and shows you all up. I can’t help but smile from home knowing that DDT Pro still owns your a**es.”

Considering where the two men came from, you can't argue with that logic one bit.