Kofi may still be one-third of the AEW World Trios Champions with Austin Creed and Swerve Strickland, but he almost walked away from AEW Grand Slam France with his first singles gold. He challenged Bandido for the ROH World Championship in Paris, but unfortunately for the former WWE Champion Bandido walked away with the win. However, Coffey wasn’t too disappointed given the reception he received from the French crowd and the quality of play he showed, so much so that he started for his side; Instagram account to thank the fans who attended the show as well as present Bandido with his flowers.
Kofi wrote; “Thank you, Paris. You were incredible as always, but this time it was even more exciting. I came up short, but I’ll be damned if I didn’t have fun. I know one thing. that @bandidowrestler is special… And strong, Gracias por la competitio, amigo.”
Despite not leaving Paris with the ROH World Championship, Kofi will get another shot at the Bandido in the not too distant future. At AEW WrestleDream 2026 on October 17, Coffey, Creed and Strickland will defend their AEW World Championship against Bandido, Brody King and Strickland’s arch-nemesis Hangman Page. in a two or three down game. Strickland and The New Level held their own against Paige and Brodido at AEW All Out 2026, but it looks like the former champions still think they have what it takes to get their gold back, and they’ll need to beat the champions not once, but twice for AEW’s next big pay-per-view.
In terms of the Bandido’s ROH World Championship record, his victory over Kofi was his 19th successful defense of the crown, sixth in a single reign. If he retains the title on the next episode of AEW Dynamite, Bandido will surpass Jay Lethal’s record of 707 combined days as champion, making him the longest reigning man in Ring of Honor.
