Big Bird and MenaRD Lead Red Bull Revenge Runback Results

One of the most FGC characteristics has always been the ‘runback.’ This is a chance to face an opponent that you’ve lost to before and get your revenge. It exists in just about any sport, but it is something also uniquely embedded in the FGC.

Therefore, when Red Bull announced the ‘Red Bull Revenge’ event, there was a lot of excitement. The premise was simple: four matches between players that have something of a history. Some of the history is long and varied, while others are relatively recent.

The four matches exhibited were between:

• Big Bird vs Bonchan

• MenaRD vs Tokido

• Blaz vs Sahara

• LeShar vs Kawano

In a sense, we were able to see veteran players like Tokido and Bonchan take on seasoned professionals like MenaRD and Big Bird, while also getting to see some of the new blood like Blaz and Sahara take on each other.

Big Bird has a lot of history with Bonchan, especially around Street Fighter V, where Bonchan’s Evo 2019 win came at the expense of a young Big Bird. Tokido and Mena are both legends, and it will be remembered that this match more or less launched Mena’s career. Back in 2017, the fresh-faced Dominican hit the scene and was on course to win Capcom Cup while still a teenager. The only obstacle in his way was a Tokido who had dominated 2017 and had already taken Evo that year. Mena beat the odds and defeated Tokido and has never looked back. One wonders how his career will have panned out without that incredible win.

Blaz and Sahara have only played once, but it was at the biggest stage of all — Capcom Cup. There, Sahara defeated the young prodigy on his way to a historic win.

Finally, Kawano and LeShar have played three times, but the most notable was a 5-0 win by LeShar in the 2025 Esports World Cup. Today’s proceedings are a chance for the players to right perceived wrongs and get their runback.

Each match was a FT5 with a character-lock specification that meant there was no jumping from character to character.

The games took place, and the results have been decided:

• Big Bird (5) vs Bonchan (1)

• MenaRD (5) vs Tokido (2)

• Blaz (2) vs Sahara (5)

• LeShar (1) vs Kawano (5)

There was some fear that the event would not go ahead due to a typhoon, nicknamed Dujuan, which is heading towards Japan and led to Tokyo Game Show cancelling its events for the day. However, Red Bull were able to set up alternatives, opting to stream the event without a live audience and only having the players in attendance. They also ensured the stream had both an English and Japanese version to cater to fans across the globe.