You may not be watching Ring of Honor at the moment and there would be nothing wrong about that considering the crazy amount of quality wrestling out there right now. But the ROH World Champion Bandido has been on fire as of late and it’s about time we talk about it. Bandido just won the ROH World Championship from Rush at the Best in the World PPV a little over two months ago and ever since he has defended it four times against the likes of Flip Gordon, Matt Taven, and most notably Brody King, EC3 and Flamita in an awesome match at Death Before Dishonor.
Outside of his work in Ring of Honor, Bandido still works a good amount of independent bookings every month, some of them in Mexico, and even hosts shows at his Mexico City gym which most notably just hosted himself against Matt Taven on PPV. Not only that but he is also the current reigning defending PWG World Champion as he won the title close to two years ago and finally defended it again after 20 months of inactivity retaining it against Black Taurus at PWG Mystery Vortex 7.
When we say Bandido has been on a roll lately, we mean he has not stopped having superstar performances for a few years at this point picking up accolades like the ROH trios championship, the ROH Survival of the Fittest tournament, the aforementioned ROH and PWG title wins, and participating in the Best of the Super Juniors 27 tournament in the span of just the last 3 years which includes 6 months with no wrestling at all due to the pandemic.
Specifically looking at his ongoing year, Bandido has put on all-star performances and some of the best matches in his career against the likes of Flamita, Flip Gordon, and Rush for Ring of Honor, and Volador Jr and Templario down in Mexico. That last point is especially important because it makes it clear that Bandido wrestles some of the best talents in the world at some of the biggest stages both in the U.S. AND Mexico. His ability to adapt as the opponent and environment as required cannot be understated.
While it may be redundant to advise to keep an eye on a promotion’s World Champion, we have the feeling Bandido is just getting started as he still has plenty of time ahead of him, this surely is only the start of Bandido’s road to stardom.
If there’s one negative thing to talk about Bandido’s presence in the worldwide wrestling picture is that due to him competing for Ring of Honor and how they’re not currently working with companies like All Elite Wrestling it makes it impossible at the moment to see Bandido walk through the forbidden door and work with the absolute best talent available. COVID-19’s impact on Japan also renders him unable to work NJPW shows or tournaments.
Even without ever working for some of the biggest companies in the world like WWE, AEW, IMPACT Wrestling and only working a handful of times for AAA, Bandido is an example of somebody who made a name for himself based on his crazy performances back in Mexico and later in ROH and NJPW. It seems like it all is finally paying off for him as he continues to improve in the ring while also working for more and more promotions making his reputation grow to the point of being in the conversation for best luchador around against the likes of all-time greats like Rey Mysterio and the Lucha Bros.
Finally, we can only applaud Ring of Honor’s decision to put their World Title on Bandido as he will take that belt everywhere he goes and he will continue to travel and have world-class matches while representing the company’s brand worldwide as he does it. Like we previously mentioned, you will want to keep an eye out for Bandido as he is one of the most exciting luchadores out there. At only 26 years of age and already with two world titles to his name there is no ceiling for this amazing fountain of Lucha Libre potential named Bandido.
