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Last Saturday on AEW Dynamite, Mr. Brodie Lee defeated Cody for the AEW TNT championship. This ended Cody's 91-day reign, who won the belt in a tournament when it was first introduced. Cody's run with the belt will surely be remembered fondly as he established the belt's credibility with a number of strong championship defenses during his run of weekly open challenges.
While the new champion could mean wholesale changes in the the way the TNT title is utilized, in many ways things will remain as they are. AEW is unlikely to allow the title to change hands quickly give they are still working on establishing its credibility and hopefully the weekly open challenges are here to stay, too.
It may be a while before AEW sees its third TNT Champion but, theoretically at least, we could only be one match away. Here are five members of the AEW roster who seem like the best fit to win the TNT Championship at the conclusion of Brodie Lee's reign.
#5 MJF for AEW TNT Champion?
MJF might seem an odd choice at first given that he is currently the No. 1 contender for Jon Moxley's AEW World Championship. While this is true, he will be a heavy underdog in that match and it doesn't seem likely that he will be in the World title picture for long.
That is not to say MJF is not an immense talent. His elite mic skills and underrated in-ring ability are becoming increasingly evident each week. The fact that he is being trusted to compete for the World title shows just how much faith AEW has in the young man.
With Mr. Brodie Lee expected to carry the title for a couple of months at least, that would give plenty of time for MJF to fall out of contention for Moxley's belt and rebuild himself into a contender for Lee's. MJF could weasel his way to a victory over the bigger man and begin a dastardly run with the TNT Championship, in much the same way The Honky Tonk Man did with the WWE Intercontinental title.
#4 Orange Cassidy as AEW TNT Champion?
Orange Cassidy is a fan favorite and is currently in the midst of the most high-profile rivalry of his career as he's locked horns with Chris Jericho in recent weeks. Cassidy even boasts a win over the inaugural AEW World Champion and with the rivalry ongoing there remains potential for him to gain even more.
These recent developments have added real credibility to Cassidy's character and suggest AEW see his character as more multi-faceted than just comedic relief. Just how far Cassidy's push will go remains to be seen but why not ride his current momentum to a run with the company's secondary belt?
Cassidy doesn't necessarily need to come out on top in his feud with Jericho, just continue to come across as a talented enough wrestler who can never be ruled out from sneaking an upset. He can comfortably leverage his win over the former World Champion into a No. 1 contender's bout for the TNT belt. AEW can then run with the story of Cassidy as an unlikely title contender until the underdog wins the TNT Championship.
#3 Brian Cage as AEW TNT Champion?
Brian Cage is at an interesting stage of his brief AEW career, having debuted at the top of the card and gradually sliding down the pecking order since. While he is still featured prominently on AEW programming, most recently in a lengthy feud with Darby Allin, there does seem to be a little danger of the big man losing his momentum and becoming lost in the shuffle.
This is something AEW will be very keen to avoid given Cage's monstrous size and deceptive agility. While it seems unlikely that Cage is thrust back into the World Championship picture right away, a pursuit of the TNT Championship could be exactly what is needed to get Cage back on track.
A match between Mr. Brodie Lee and Cage is a lot of fun on paper, as the two big men are capable of much higher-paced matches than most men of their size. If AEW does choose to go in this direction we could see Cage as the next TNT Champion.
#2 Darby Allin as AEW TNT Champion?
Darby Allin has really shone in the opportunities he's been given during his time in AEW. He already has a number of impressive matches with the company and the fans seem to be taking to his character quickly. Moreover, AEW clearly has a lot of faith in Allin, regularly putting him in big spots on the card, even including a World Championship match with Jon Moxley. While Allin probably needs to be built up a little more before he is ready for that step in his career, why not give him a trial run with the TNT Championship?
Allin plays the part of the risk-taking underdog so well and his style seems like an obvious fit to do battle against the dominating power of Mr. Brodie Lee. While AEW should hold off on pulling the trigger on this matchup for a little while, to allow Lee to reap the benefits of a run as champion, few would be opposed to an Darby Allin title run.
#1 "Hangman" Adam Page as AEW TNT Champion?
This one obviously isn't likely to happen in the immediate future since "Hangman" Adam Page is currently one half of the AEW World Tag Team Champions, alongside Kenny Omega. While that may be the case, that is also one of the reasons that make this such an appealing option.
Omega and Page are great professional wrestlers and this has unsurprisingly led to them forming a great tag team together, but with the wealth of talented tag teams at AEW's disposal one has to wonder whether they might be better served elsewhere on the card. By having this tag team lose their belts and shift their focus back to singles competition, we could see Adam Page really come into his own and also free up Kenny Omega for the eventual World Championship run most AEW fans have been waiting for.
Page could lose his tag team title, slowly rebuild himself up into a contender and then finally defeat Mr. Brodie Lee in a match that already seems to be hinted at on Being The Elite.
