Konosuke Takeshita
It finally happened. Ever since Kazuchika Okada and Konosuke Takeshita’s tensions simmered since the former’s inclusion in the Don Callis Family, fans mostly waited patiently for tensions to blast open. Half of Takeshita’s month had been spent in Japan, performing for DDT and NJPW.
He did lose to Darby Allin on the May 13 AEW Dynamite, thus denying him the AEW World Championship. Not all was lost, as he still had a bout scheduled with AEW International Champion Okada at Double or Nothing.
After the gnarly contention between FTR and Cage & Cope that started the pay-per-view, Takeshita and Okada followed excellently. Hard-hitting and fitting for their rivalry, their match stood out. Pure hatred oozed from the wrestlers, each trying to destroy the other, to Callis’s dismay.
Though his faction betrayed him, Takeshita found prompt allyship with The Conglomeration. Where the new AEW International Champion goes from here, only time will tell.
Darby Allin
Almost everyone could tell there would be a short shelf life for Allin’s reign of the AEW World Championship. Not many expected him to have such a packed May, though! Allin tore through the competition against Kevin Knight, PAC, Konosuke Takeshita, Sammy Guevara, and Speedball Mike Bailey.
Since his debut for AEW in 2019, Allin has sacrificed his body and put in his best effort to set himself apart from his peers. Taking every second of his reign to provide television viewers with utmost intensity and entertainment, Allin took every bit of attention and ran with it.
Then AEW Double or Nothing happened. It seemed he had it made. Mick Foley gave a huge mark of endorsement in the Zero Hour pre-show. JetSpeed wished him well. And still, he couldn’t put away challenger MJF. The Long Islander’s title dreams and hair follicles were on the line, and he was hungry.
Allin had already consumed the month; his body gave out from exhaustion, and no risky maneuvers would change that. What’s the saying? It’s better to burn out than to fade away. I’m not a fan of Allin personally, but I will give flowers where they’re due.
