Konosuke Takeshita to defend NEVER title in CMLL debut
Konosuke Takeshita will be making a title defense when he debuts at Arena Mexico this Friday night.
In his first-ever CMLL match, Takeshita will put his NEVER Openweight Championship on the line against Angel de Oro. It’s been announced as the main event for the Friday, February 28 card, which is set to stream live on YouTube for those who subscribe to CMLL’s channel at the “Leyenda [Legend]” or “Campeon Mundial [World Champion]” level.
It was revealed on CMLL Informa last week that Takeshita would be coming to the promotion soon. He currently holds both the NJPW NEVER Openweight Championship and AEW International Championship, though the latter belt will not be on the line in this match. Takeshita has contracts with all three of AEW, NJPW, and DDT.
Takeshita’s reign as NEVER Openweight Champion began when he defeated Shingo Takagi at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19 this January. He’s made successful defenses against Tomohiro Ishii, KUSHIDA, and Oleg Boltin since then.
AEW wrestler Taya Valkyrie is also making her CMLL debut soon, teaming with Lady Frost in a tournament to crown new CMLL Women’s Tag Team Champions. Their first match will be on March 7.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.