If there’s one thing I’m actually really tired of in AEW, it’s ROH World Champion Bandido being booked to take losses. Sure, he hasn’t actually taken this upcoming “L” just yet, but it’s sadly pretty obvious after tonight. Bandido is set to take on International Champion Kyle Fletcher at AEW Redemption, and with the way things are going for Fletcher, he’s just not losing the gold to Bandido.
Tonight, we saw Kazuchika Okada and Fletcher exchange looks over the gold when they both went to pick up the belt in the ring. In a later backstage segment, where Fletcher agreed to take on Bandido at Redemption, Okada was standing over his shoulder while he was speaking, with a look on his face like he’s ready to take Fletcher down at any second.
That’s something that Takeshita did following Fletcher’s successful defense over Komander tonight, knocking him flat out, as if anyone really expected his feud with the new champion to be over after “Beach Break.” It may take awhile to continue after tonight, as Takeshita is in NJPW’s G1, but that feud is far from over. At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a triple threat pitting all three guys against one another for the International title.
I wouldn’t hate that at all, if it weren’t for poor Bandido being set up to take another loss. He lost at Forbidden Door to Jon Moxley in a Continental Championship match, to Swerve Strickland at Double or Nothing in the Owen Hart Foundation tournament, and took another loss in the TNT Championship Casino Gauntlet match back at Dynasty. I will say, he recently defended the ROH championship he’s been holding for over a year against Katsuyori Shibata on “AEW Collision,” and he and Brody King won against Aaron Solo and Nick Comoroto tonight, but when you compare those wins to the big losses he’s taken on pay-per-view, it just sucks.
Bandido was a lot of fans’ Wrestler of the Year last year. While he’s, of course, still amazing in the ring, his booking is just terrible. After tonight, I feel like there’s no point in even hoping he pulls out a victory over Fletcher, as his feud with Takeshita, and seemingly soon, Okada, needs to have the gold on the line.
Written by Daisy Ruth
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