Kazuchika Okada has spent his AEW run as one of the company’s most hated acts. Tommy Dreamer thinks the audience is telling AEW it wants the opposite.
Breaking down Wednesday’s Dynamite on Busted Open After Dark, Dreamer pointed to the finish of the AEW International Championship match as the moment that made his case. Kyle Fletcher retained against Komander and went after the challenger’s mask afterward, bringing out Konosuke Takeshita to make the save. As Takeshita picked up the title, Okada hit the ring and dropped him with the Rainmaker, then he and his Don Callis Family stablemate both got their hands on the belt and came face to face over it before Bandido and Brody King cleared them out.
Dreamer said the reaction to that staredown told the story.
“One of the biggest baby faces possibly from New Japan, Okada. Whenever he comes out there, he’s the biggest heel,” Dreamer said. “Yes, he’s taking out Takeshita, but you have all these twists and turns.”
He said the image of the two men holding the same championship is the kind of thing companies build around.
“Here comes Okada, and he helps him pick up the title, and they both have that moment of holding up that title. Guys, WrestleManias have been made by two guys holding up a title, and here’s two guys,” Dreamer said. “And you heard the people go, ooh, because they also want to see Okada turn good.”
For Dreamer, the crowd has already made the decision, in the same way it did with Takeshita.
“This Okada could be your biggest baby face in AEW if you want him to be, and the fans want you to be, just like they wanted to see Takeshita turn good,” Dreamer said.
The broader point Dreamer was making about the show was that AEW’s alignments are no longer fixed, and that the crowd is being allowed to move. He pointed to the same night’s Kenny Omega celebration segment, where the Death Riders came out to back up Omega and Will Ospreay against the Don Callis Family, drawing cheers for a group that had been booed earlier in the evening.
“Wait, what is going on? Because we just were booing Claudio a couple of, maybe an hour earlier, and now we’re cheering him because he’s got Kenny and Will’s back,” Dreamer said.
Okada is a member of the Don Callis Family and teams with Fletcher as ProtOkada. The two are set to face Bandido and Brody King next week on Dynamite, while Fletcher has challenged Bandido to defend the International Championship at Redemption on July 26 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
