The Bang Bang Gang got out-gimmicked at AEW Redemption
If you were expecting a clean conclusion at AEW Redemption between The Dogs and the Bang Bang Gang, I have a bridge to sell you. We watched a perfectly serviceable main event devolve into a circus act the second the outside interference started clogging up the ring.
The Bang Bang Gang has spent months acting like the absolute kings of the promotion. They treat every entrance like a coronation and every post-match scrum like a press junket. Watching them lose via chicanery wasn't surprising, but the manner of the victory felt like a massive middle finger to anyone who wanted to see a definitive winner.
The interference arrived just as the match hit its high gear. A series of heavy shots and a blown pinfall attempt later, the referees were distracted, and the match was effectively over. It left a bad taste in the mouth of every person sitting in the arena watching the fallout.
Referees in AEW are apparently invisible obstacles
How many times do we have to watch a referee get bumped and forget every basic function of their job description? After the scrap at AEW Redemption, it felt like the officials were paid to look at the ceiling rather than the ring. It is frustrating to invest twenty minutes into a grudge match just to see it end because someone kicked the second rope.
The Bang Bang Gang is talented at being the villains we love to hate, but even a villain needs a coherent exit strategy. By relying on this kind of booking, Tony Khan is actively undercutting the heat these guys have built. We aren't angry at the heels anymore, we are just annoyed at the production notes.
Some will argue this is professional wrestling and chaos is the point. I disagree. Chaos is a great ladder match like the one Speedball Mike Bailey recently pulled off. That was a high-wire act that defined the night. What we saw in the main event was a script written by someone who had clearly checked out for the evening.
The post-match fallout is going to be a disaster
With the Bang Bang Gang reeling from this loss, the next TV cycle is going to be insufferable. We know the drill. They will come out, yell into microphones for fifteen minutes, and demand a rematch that absolutely no one asked for. It reminds me of the worst late-nineties WCW booking when guys would just cycle through the same feuds until the crowd stopped caring altogether.
We need to talk about the booking ceiling on these high-stakes matches. When you have top-tier rosters, you don't need a valet or a hidden weapon to ensure a finish. If the talent is as good as the company claims, let them prove it inside the ropes without the extra bells and whistles.
I remember watching the golden era of tag teams where the finish rarely required an extra body. You had the Hart Foundation or the Dudley Boys just putting the work in. Watching this, I felt like I was watching an improv troupe trying to finish a sketch that had run ten minutes over its allotted time.
The win for The Dogs was technically on the books, but it feels like a hollow victory. There is no momentum here, just an asterisk that will be buried under another six weeks of television. Total watch time for the interference segment was over 5 minutes, which is far too long for a finish to a major card.
Maybe in the next week or two, they will pivot back to real competitive wrestling. I personally hope they do, because holding on to these soap opera tropes is only going to drive away the viewers who actually like the sport for the craft. If the plan was to get the crowd loud, they succeeded, but usually, that noise is directed at the booking team, not the talent.
As other reports on the event have noted, the variety on the show was high, but the main event stumble really put a damper on the atmosphere. You have such a talented pool of guys, and yet this is where we land. It shows a lack of trust in the roster to carry the final segment of the night.
At the end of the day, a win is a win, but my interest in this specific program is at an all-time low. I came in ready for a bloodbath and left feeling like I had just watched a poorly rehearsed rehearsal. Fix the finishes, stop the extracurriculars, and let the wrestlers hold the belt without needing a babysitter to help them through the final count.
