AEW's Konosuke Takeshita Wins NJPW World TV Title At New Beginning USA

By Sam Palmer
Konosuke Takeshita at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20 Etsuo Hara/Getty Images

The first NJPW event of 2026 to take place in the United States is officially in the books as The New Beginning USA took place on February 27 in Trenton, New Jersey. There was a lot of action on the card, and it was a big night for AEW star Konosuke Takeshita as he once again has gold around his waist in the form of the NJPW World Television Championship.

"The Alpha" went toe-to-toe with El Phantasmo, a man who Takeshita has faced off with multiple times in New Japan Pro Wrestling over the past few years, with the aim of putting a stop to ELP's second reign as TV Champion. ELP was edging closer to breaking Zack Sabre Jr's record of 365 days as champion, with his reign standing at 304 days heading into this match, and he could have left with the title as the initial bout the two men had ended in a 15 minute time limit draw. This would usually mean that ELP would remain champion, but ELP took to the microphone demanding a sudden death overtime since the two men had already wrestled to a time limit draw once before. This would inevitably come back to haunt the champion as Takeshita would eventually the Raging Fire to pick up the win and become the new champion.

With the win, Takeshita technically becomes a Grand Slam Champion in NJPW as his World Television Championship sits alongside his reigns as NEVER Openweight Champion and IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, which includes the lineage of the IWGP Intercontinental Championship, thus making him winner of the new Grand Slam Title as the IWGP United States Championship was retired in 2024.

Elsewhere on the show, The Don Callis Family didn't get all of the glory on the night as Yota Tsuji retained the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship against Andrade El Idolo. The Demand also had a mixed night as Ricochet retained the AEW National Championship against Taiji Ishimori, but Bishop Kaun and Toa Liona failed to capture the IWGP Tag Team Championships from The Knockout Brothers. ROH Women's World Champion Athena failed to become a double champion as Syuri defeated her to retain the IWGP Women's Championship, and The Conglomeration's Tomohiro Ishii dropped the NJPW STRONG Openweight Championship to Boltin Oleg.

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