Kyle Fletcher was pushed to nearly half an hour by Bandido, but ended up leaving Montreal with gold still around his waist.
Fletcher prevailed in a hectic showdown against Bandido as part of AEW’s Redemption pay-per-view on Sunday night, continuing his reign as AEW International Champion.
Bandido came incredibly close to dethroning Fletcher late in the match, scoring a long series of some of his top moves. An avalanche Blockbuster followed by an X-Knee and 21-Plex from the luchador caused a near fall late. Fletcher countered a second 21-Plex with a hard lariat strung together with a teardrop brainbuster for a near fall.
A Michinoku Driver from Fletcher off the middle rope, followed up by a teardrop brainbuster onto the top turnbuckle, was finally enough for him to beat Bandido in 26 minutes.
Earlier moments included a gutsy frogsplash off the top rope and to the floor from Bandido, and a springboard moonsault from Bandido countered mid-air into a superkick from Fletcher.
Fletcher earned the AEW International Championship just earlier this month, dethroning rival Konosuke Takeshita as part of a Beach Break edition of Dynamite. The two-time TNT champ was facing Bandido in singles action for the first time on Sunday night.
Bandido was looking to capture double-champ status this weekend. He has held the ROH World Championship for nearly 500 days, beating names like Hechicero, Konosuke Takeshita, Katsuyori Shibata, and Volador Jr. along the way.
Fletcher’s next opponent was determined earlier on the card, when Speedball Mike Bailey won a six-way #1 contenders ladder match.
