Yuto-Ice is not closing the door on facing Hiromu Takahashi again, even after Takahashi’s departure from New Japan Pro-Wrestling and subsequent WWE debut under the name KYOKI.
Speaking after NJPW Blue Justice XIX, Yuto-Ice addressed the emotions surrounding Takahashi’s new chapter. The Unbound Co. member made clear that he sees Takahashi’s move to WWE as something to admire and chase, rather than a development that ends any possibility of their paths meeting again.
For Yuto-Ice, the issue is not simply whether a match can be arranged. It is whether he can continue building enough value, profile, and drawing power to put himself in a position where such a meeting becomes realistic.
“Just the other day, he put into words exactly how I feel,” Yuto-Ice said. “He said, ‘It’s not that I envy people for winning titles or anything like that—I envy the guys who look like they’re having fun in their matches.’ I also feel envious when I see guys who are on a higher level than me or who are making big money. That’s why I’m incredibly jealous of Hiromu [Takahashi] right now.”
For more background on this topic, read Titus Alexander Announces Full-Time Move to Japan Ahead of NOAH N-1 Victory.
Yuto-Ice reflects on Takahashi’s WWE arrival
Takahashi wrestled his final NJPW match in February. After that bout, members of Unbound Co. came out to see him off, with Yuto-Ice among those present. Yuto-Ice was visibly emotional during the farewell, underlining the personal weight that Takahashi’s exit carried for him.
Months later, Takahashi is now signed to WWE and performing as KYOKI. His transition has created obvious distance between his current career path and the NJPW environment in which he and Yuto-Ice previously shared space, but Yuto-Ice does not view that distance as permanent.
Instead, he framed Takahashi’s success as motivation. His comments centered on the drive that comes from watching someone he respects pursue a major opportunity and commit fully to it. The jealousy Yuto-Ice described was not presented as resentment. It was a frank acknowledgment that seeing Takahashi reach a larger stage has made him want more from his own career.
That distinction is important. Professional wrestling is built on competition, but it is also built on wrestlers measuring their own progress against peers, mentors, rivals, and former allies. Yuto-Ice’s remarks suggest that KYOKI’s WWE debut has become a benchmark for what he wants to accomplish rather than a reason to look backward.
“I’ve got to become a bigger money-maker”
Yuto-Ice was direct when discussing what would need to happen before a future match with KYOKI could become possible. In his view, the path begins with becoming a bigger money-maker.
“If I become a bigger money-maker, I don’t think the possibility of us facing off is zero,” Yuto-Ice said. “No matter what form it takes, the time will come when we cross paths, so I know I’ve got to become a bigger money-maker.”
He did not place a timetable on a potential reunion, nor did he identify a promotion, event, or specific type of match where it could happen. There is no confirmation of an arrangement for Yuto-Ice and KYOKI to wrestle each other. What Yuto-Ice did offer was a belief that the possibility remains alive if he continues to elevate himself.
The wording leaves room for several outcomes without claiming any of them are planned. Yuto-Ice said he can imagine being aligned with Takahashi again, but he can also envision standing on the opposite side of the ring. That reflects the unpredictable nature of wrestling careers, particularly when performers are taking different routes through the industry.
“I can push myself, but when I see someone I admire giving it their all, it makes me want to give it my all too,” Yuto-Ice continued. “I want to be in a position where I can face Hiromu whenever the time is right. I can imagine us being on the same side or on opposite sides of the ring—I can picture both scenarios.”
A farewell that still carries meaning
The February farewell remains a key part of the story. Takahashi’s final NJPW match was not treated as an ordinary departure by the wrestlers who came out afterward, and Yuto-Ice’s emotional response showed how significant Takahashi had been to him.
Now that Takahashi has entered WWE as KYOKI, that sendoff takes on another layer. It marked the conclusion of one phase of Takahashi’s career, but Yuto-Ice’s latest comments indicate he does not see it as a final goodbye in every sense. He sees a future intersection as something worth preparing for.
That preparation, by his own assessment, cannot be based only on wanting the match. Yuto-Ice believes he needs to become more valuable as a performer and as a business presence. His use of the term “money-maker” was deliberate. He is measuring the situation in terms of stature and commercial importance, not merely personal connection.
It is also notable that Yuto-Ice connected this goal to the feeling of seeing wrestlers operate at a higher level or earn more money. Rather than avoiding that comparison, he openly embraced it. The comments reveal an ambition to move closer to the level occupied by the wrestlers he looks up to, with Takahashi’s move providing a particularly strong example.
The wider question around Yuto-Ice’s future
Yuto-Ice’s remarks arrive after he had already addressed questions about his own future earlier in 2026. At New Year Dash, he discussed where he and OSKAR stood as a tag team in NJPW following a report that they had been offered WWE contracts.
That earlier discussion and his current comments about KYOKI both place Yuto-Ice in a period of potentially significant career reflection. On one side is his current role with Unbound Co. and his connection to OSKAR. On the other is the clear desire to grow into a larger attraction, with WWE’s newly debuted KYOKI serving as an example of the scale Yuto-Ice wants to reach.
None of Yuto-Ice’s comments confirm a change in his own contractual situation or establish any immediate move. They do, however, make his priorities clear. He wants to improve his standing, increase his value, and be ready if an opportunity emerges to share a ring with Takahashi again.
For now, KYOKI’s WWE run and Yuto-Ice’s path remain separate. Their history, however, has given Yuto-Ice a reason to believe the separation does not have to be absolute. Whether they eventually reunite as partners or collide as opponents is unknown, but Yuto-Ice is treating that uncertainty as fuel.
What Yuto-Ice is chasing
There is a practical message at the center of Yuto-Ice’s statement: a dream match becomes more plausible when both wrestlers have enough value to make it matter. He is not presenting a possible bout with KYOKI as a promise. He is presenting it as a target that requires work.
His admiration for Takahashi has not changed with the name change to KYOKI or with the move to WWE. If anything, Takahashi’s new position has intensified Yuto-Ice’s hunger to prove himself. The emotional farewell in February has developed into a forward-looking goal in September.
Yuto-Ice wants to become the kind of performer who can meet KYOKI when the circumstances are right. Until then, he appears focused on ensuring that his own name carries greater weight, whether that ultimately leads to a reunion, a rivalry, or an entirely different form of crossover between the two wrestlers.
Darryl Polo
Darryl Polo is a passionate wrestling fan covering WWE, AEW, TNA and beyond. He loves great rivalries, breakout stars and the moments that keep fans talking long after the bell. How we work.