Wrestling

Don Callis has a convincing recruitment pitch for Konosuke Takeshita

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Anybody watching Konosuke Takeshita wrestle in the ring can clearly see the abundance of talent he possesses. Bryan Danielson gave his stamp of approval to the rising star.

Bryan Danielson: Alright, so tonight, I finally got the chance to wrestle Takeshita, and I was really looking forward to it. I’d heard a lot of people who had wrestled all over the world. When they wrestled Takeshita, they said, ‘Oh man, that guy’s great.’ And I got to feel it.

You know, there’s one thing to watch somebody. And I watch him, and you see like for how young he is, he’s in his twenties, he looks so good. It looks like he hits so hard, but I want to feel it, right? It’s one of the thing’s I love about wrestling is FEELING it out there.

And when we got out there and he hit me with the first forearm, I felt it. I felt it. This guy’s special. And I’ve been in the ring with some of the best wrestlers in the world, some of the best wrestlers of all-time. And I think by the end, we’re going to be talking about Takeshita in the same way.

Unfortunately, Takeshita hasn’t yet been able to put it all together for meaningful success on AEW television programming. There is one man who believes he can help change Takeshita’s fortunes. Don Callis has a convincing recruitment pitch.

Callis has been seen over the past few weeks observing Takeshita from a distance (including at PWG BOLA weekend, where Takeshita was the tournament’s runner-up). The Invisible Hand finally made his move to approach Takeshita backstage during Elevation.

Callis butt in on the topic of Takeshita losing to Danielson:

Don Callis: It was a fantastic match, and it was also, in my opinion, a match you should have won. But you’re on a 17-hour jet lag, but you’re trying to find a house in America, but you’re dealing with all your work issues and your family issues, and, by the way, oh yeah, he wrestled four times in two days at the BOLA tournament, then went and wrestled Bryan Danielson, one of the best wrestlers in the world. It’s too much for anyone.

Kenny Omega used to do stuff like that a couple years ago, and then I started advising him and we avoid those things. You see, losses aren’t experience, Takeshita. Losses are losses. And eventually if you lose enough, no matter how talented you are, there’s nothing left. Your problem’s not talent, your problem is you need help. And I’m just telling you straight talk, because Kenny and I think you’re great.

You give me call. (Hands over business card.) You think about it. We’re here to help.

That is a solid pitch from Callis. The Invisible Hand has a point about losing. Losing too much can be dangerous. It’s easy to get comfortable with a self-imposed ceiling. Learning to win is an actual skill to acquire. We’ve seen it so many times in sports when a young star has a clutch moment. One success builds upon another, the momentum gains steam, then the sky is the limit. Takeshita is close to breaking through, and I think he would benefit from a little guidance from the Invisible Hand.

Hopefully, a managerial relationship would focus more on Takeshita honing his craft and not relying on cheating shortcuts, as Callis is known to encourage. Takeshita is too popular to force him into Callis’ shady heel ways.

While Takeshita is thinking it over, Callis issued an open invitation to the good life.

Takeshita might be biting. He was seen with Callis at an LA Clippers game in the latest episode of BTE.

Do you think Don Callis would be a good mentor for Konosuke Takeshita?

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