NJPW's Shingo Takagi Blames AEW Star For Lackluster G1 Performance

New Japan Pro Wrestling's annual G1 Climax tournament concluded on August 16 as Ryohei Oiwa emerged victorious in the final, but while the likes of "The Grip" had a tournament to remember, Shingo Takagi had a tournament to forget. Despite picking up victories over the likes of Hirooki Goto, Konosuke Takeshita, and the eventual tournament winner Oiwa, the "Rampage Dragon" finished his A Block campaign with just eight points out of a possible 18, and Takagi thinks he knows who is to blame for his lackluster performance.

Following his match at the G1 Climax Final event in Tokyo, Takagi cut a promo backstage where he called out the man he believes is responsible for throwing him off his game throughout the G1 Climax, AEW star Claudio Castagnoli. "Before the G1, I lost to you, and it threw off my whole rhythm! This G1 where I went four wins and five losses? Claudio, that's on you. Don't act all high and mighty, punk. Come to Kobe, my second hometown, Kobe! Claudio Castagnoli, get your a** here!"

The match Takagi is referring to is the tag team match from the July 2 episode of "AEW Collision" where Castagnoli and his fellow Death Rider PAC defeated Takagi and Drilla Moloney. As for the Kobe event, that will be the NJPW Destruction in Kobe show on September 27, a show that if Castagnoli wrestles on, he will not be a part of AEW All Out 2026 which takes place on September 26 due to the time difference between Japan and the United States. 

Before the aforementioned bout on "Collision," Takagi and Castagnoli had only ever shared the ring twice before in their careers, once in a multi-man match in ROH back in 2007, and once on "AEW Dynamite" in 2024 in a trios match. They've never had a one-on-one encounter, but that could change if Takagi gets his wish.