Maxwell Jacob Friedman is set to defend the AEW World Championship against "Hangman" Adam Page in a Texas Death match at AEW Revolution on Saturday. If Page fails to regain the title he lost at FullGear, he will never be able to challenge for the title again. Even with the hardcore stipulation, Page's specialty, and the caveat that he loses all other world championship opportunities, we still don't think that he'll be the one to dethrone MJF.MJF won the title in rather sneaky fashion upon his return to AEW in December last year. In the days leading up to Worlds End, he return to cash in his opportunity earned in the Casino Gauntlet match, making the triple threat at Worlds End a fatal four-way. MJF fought against champion Samoa Joe, Page, and Swerve Strickland at the pay-per-view and emerged victorious, gold in hand.Since winning the gold, MJF has defended against Brody King, Bandido, and Kevin Knight. Page earned the opportunity to challenge MJF at Revolution after defeating Andrade El Idolo at Grand Slam Australia. While Page is certainly a formidable challenger, the main event scene is packed with talent, all gunning for the AEW World Championship, and we just don't think Page kicks off his third reign with the belt with a win at Revolution.From Page, to King, to Strickland, Andrade, Kenny Omega, and even Will Ospreay waiting in the wings to return from neck surgery, there is no shortage of talent who could be the next AEW World Champion. In Page's case, if he loses at Revolution, he could win back the opportunity to challenge for the title from whoever is holding it, whether that be MJF or the men we think should and will win the title in the near future.
Brody King has had a massive rise in AEW over the last year, thanks in part to his wildly successful tag team alongside Bandido, as well as media coverage due to fan chants inspired by his ongoing support of families impacted by US immigration enforcement. With the recent mainstream attention and fan support, as well as King's in-ring prowess, we think it should be time to pull the trigger on King and a world title run, despite his loss to MJF at Grand Slam Australia.He's set to face Swerve Strickland at Revolution, and he should go over the newly-heel star, who is perpetually over at this point, and the loss wouldn't hurt him. While, realistically, that feud is likely to continue, this match should be a one-off to get King back to MJF. In this scenario, King could beat the champion at Dynasty in April, and go on to have a five-and-a-half month reign with the gold before the next person we think wins the title, Will Ospreay at All In London at the end of August.While calling King's first AEW World Championship reign an "experiment" sounds harsh, that's what could be done here. Putting the title on him at Dynasty would get some hype for AEW during a season where WWE usually overshadows everything with WrestleMania. His reign lasting a solid five months would be great for him, and even though his match against Ospreay would be babyface versus babyface, we've seen that work before in AEW.Throughout his time as champion, King could feud with MJF vying for a rematch, as well as Strickland coming back for more. Despite a loss to Ospreay, which would be a fantastic match, King would still look great, and could have a second run with the gold at any point in the future.
While Kenny Omega very well could be the man to dethrone MJF, we're not entirely sold on what could be Omega's final reign being a short one. That's because, like many fans, we are pretty set on the idea that Ospreay wins at All In when it returns to Wembley Stadium, especially due to the various video vignettes AEW has already been running for the "Aerial Assassin" and reports he has traveled to tapings to get cleared following neck surgery.In that case, we think MJF holds the AEW World Championship straight through to All In. While this reign would be nowhere close to his historic first reign with the title, which lasted 406 days, it would make sense to keep the gold on him, as AEW just did a quick title change when Page lost the gold to Samoa Joe at Full Gear, then Joe lost the following month to MJF at Worlds End. If MJF loses the title at All In, he will have held the gold for around 247 days, which is nothing to scoff at.While things can change quickly of course, there have been no recent reports that MJF is jetting back to Hollywood to film anything anytime soon. He can defend the title at Dynasty and Double or Nothing, as he has no shortage of challengers.It seems like Ospreay is well on the way back to the ring, but just when he returns remains unclear. We think it will be at a pay-per-view, but Revolution seems unlikely with the massive stipulation between MJF and Page. It's more likely we see Ospreay make his grand return at Dynasty, or possibly in New York City for Double or Nothing, both of which give him plenty of time to stack some wins to earn his shot at MJF.
