As if Double or Nothing as an event wasn’t one of, if not the, best AEW events of all time, Konosuke Takeshita and Kazuchika Okada wrestled what will undoubtedly be in the discussion for Match of the Year for the International title.
Okada and Takeshita were clashing as two rivaling members of the Don Callis Family, two that are argued as the greatest Japanese wrestlers of their generation, and were always going to deliver something adjacent to greatness at the very least. But when they did finally step up to the plate for a bout that was not just a semi-final in a tournament to be concluded later in the night, they left nothing unsaid or done with a story and a reason applied to every motion.
Okada started off cocky, unfazed by his opponent and any suggestion he was on his level. But soon enough he found cockiness to be complacency and fell victim to the sudden shifts that Takeshita is capable of. So he went brutal, stacking move after move and dropping him on the floor. He looked to go one step further with a Tombstone piledriver on the floor. But Don Callis, who had been on commentary for the match, said he didn’t want to see one of his assets damaged and put a stop to it.
Takeshita sealed his eventual fate with the next move, using that mercy to drop Okada to the floor with a vertical brainbuster and flipping off Callis. They still wrestled for a prolonged stretch even after that, avoiding one another’s killshots one-upping each other until Takeshita finally borrowed the Rainmaker for himself. He didn’t get the win with that move but he did get the win after an instant classic, celebrating in the ring for just a moment before his fate with the Family was set.
The group he co-founded gathered around him and looked to be turning on the new International Champion. But then Kyle Fletcher made his return at the perfect moment to band with Takeshita and save him for the night. Or so it seemed, embracing and raising Takeshita’s hand, before finally turning around and flooring him with a lariat.
Even with top quality match, a title change, a return, and a betrayal allocated to this one segment of the show, there was one more layer added; Okada went to pick up the title that he had called his, but Fletcher tugged it from him, eventually hitting Takeshita around the head with it to finish things off.
The drama will only continue to unfold and yield great matches, such is the marriage of superstars that is the Don Callis Family, and I am all the way here for it.
Written by Max Everett
