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AEW International Championship
Konosuke Takeshita versus Kazuchika Okada (c)

Hi everyone!

I’m that guy who still can’t get over World’s End 2025!

It should have been Kazuchika Okada versus Konosuke Takeshita in the final.

I know why AEW President Tony Khan did not do it. He knew Takeshita was losing at Wrestle Kingdom so he didn’t want him having this big win then a big loss soon after New Japan Pro Wrestling. I think that’s silly and his NJPW record doesn’t count to his AEW record. But whatever.

We instead got Jon Moxley winning it, which was a lot less uplifting than Takeshita finally going to that next level, and we got that weird Mox babyface push for a few months before flipping him back to heel against Will Ospreay and then now he’s doing the weird mentor thing and whatever shades of grey Blackpool Death Rider Club stuff. Not a big fan of it.

We now get this confrontation between Okada and Takeshita for the AEW International Championship with a solid amount of build up time. Of course I would be remiss not to mention that this too has suffered from some shades of grey because they won’t pull the trigger officially on Konosuke Takeshita turning babyface and leaving the Don Callis Family.

Kazuchika Okada has just been taking it easy with his International Championship reign since losing the Continental at World’s End. He even had a few weeks as Trios Champion with Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis. His International defences this year have been Adam Priest, AR Fox, Kevin Knight, Myron Reed, Ace Austin, and Bryan Keith. Aside from the Kevin Knight match? He’s facing guys under the midcard of AEW.

Okada was supposed to have a big match with Darby Allin for the AEW Men’s World Championship but had to go to Japan for personal reasons instead. Takeshita ended up replacing him and that meant Take had to take a big loss going into this match at Double or Nothing. Takeshita has been booked strong in AEW but clearly beneath a glass ceiling. He couldn’t beat Jon Moxley and he couldn’t beat Darby Allin. If he doesn’t have a major win against a major name soon? Fans are eventually going to lose hope with Konosuke.

We also need Okada to do more than just low card title defences. Whether or not he leaves Double or Nothing as champion doesn’t change the need for him to do a little more. I love Okada, much more than most when it comes to his comedy, but he’s still Kazuchika Okada. The Rainmaker. As fun as it is to see him in a letterman jacket like he’s an American Football quarterback of the Don Callis Family? I need more from Okada.

So I’m putting a lot on this match. It doesn’t just need to be better than their match at World’s End. It needs to absolutely obliterate it. It needs to feel important by the end. If it’s just another part of a larger story? I might not be there for the end of that story. There’s no better time than now to make a statement for both men here.

Photos by All Elite Wrestling