Tommy Billington Discusses Wrestling Konosuke Takeshita In Second AEW Match

"Dynamite Kid" Tommy Billington turned a lot of heads in May 2024 when he made his AEW debut against Dax Harwood, with many fans left wondering when they were going to see the nephew of the original Dynamite Kid back in action. Those thoughts were put to rest when AEW returned to Calgary, Alberta in July as Billington opened the July 13 edition of "AEW Collision" against Konosuke Takeshita. While the match was one final warm-up for Takeshita before he jetted off to Japan for the NJPW G1 Climax tournament, it was another chance for Billington to prove that he is more than capable of living up to his family name.

During a recent appearance on the "AEW Unrestricted" podcast, Billington gave some insight into how he felt facing someone who he has dreamt of facing for a long time. 

"I've actually always wanted to wrestle Takeshita because I'm really big in Japanese style, and obviously being rooted with 'Dynamite.' I think he was the best second opponent I could have asked for. Of course, hard-hitting, very tough, I've got to show a lot of heart in there, and I feel like I did that. I always have to keep my shoulder turned and keep my eye on Don [Callis], you know, because he's always up to something," said Billington.

He also revealed how far in advance he found out about the match and explained how he was ready for anything. 

"I must have found out about four days beforehand, something like that, if I was guessing. It's pretty late notice," Billington said. "I was actually really excited about it because it's like now I've got my foot in AEW, it's no more nerves, no nothing, I was ready."

Please credit "AEW Unrestricted" when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.