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When AEW debuted its world championship belt at Double or Nothing in May, the universal consensus was that it was a gorgeous title. Three months later, at All Out, the legendary Chris Jericho cemented his place as the first man that title would belong to (not withstanding the theft incident a short time later!). It was an obvious choice, given his prominence, but it was also an inspired one.
Chris Jericho has arguably done the best work of his already long and illustrious during his reign as the champion. He is the glue that's holding AEW Dynamite together on Wednesday nights and there's still plenty of mileage left in his reign.
But all things must pass and wrestling wouldn't be fun without making predictions. Who will succeed Chris Jericho as champion? Who will succeed that man?
Let's try to have some fun and look at the near and further future.
#1 Jon Moxley
The war between Chris Jericho and Jon Moxley has already begun. Moxley was the first to declare hostilities, looming over the champion after his successful title defense against Scorpio Sky.
No shots have been fired yet, but Jericho and Moxley are mobilizing for action. Jericho has the larger army, to be sure, a fact he advertised on the December 4th Dynamite. The Inner Circle is sure to give Moxley a lot of trouble on the way.
Moxley is a tenacious fighter, though. He's going to go through the troops one by one until he finally gets his hands on their leader. This is a build that can last for months and months and I hope it isn't rushed. Nevertheless, whether it's in February or in May, Jon Moxley will eventually dethrone Chris Jericho to become the second AEW World Champion.
Moxley won't be able to bask in the spoils of victory forever, though, as a previously vanquished foe will no doubt jump at the chance for revenge with higher stakes.
#2 Kenny Omega
Kenny Omega's career should have taken off with AEW, but it seems he's incapable of repeating his previous greatness with the new company. That's been the story. Every time he's been put in a big match situation, he hasn't come out the winner.
No doubt, Omega will spend the time wondering what happened, and whether or not 2018 was the peak, with nowhere to go but down. Seeing his old foe Jon Moxley emerge as champion will no doubt shake him even more.
He'll have to find himself. Eventually, he will, by realizing that Moxley defeated him in his own element - a hardcore match. However, Omega never met his rival in his own element - a classic, long, wrestling match.
The two will eventually collide again in such a setting, perhaps in a two out of three falls match, where Kenny Omega will prevail and become the third AEW World Champion.
But a young hotshot will be waiting.
#3 MJF
MJF's betrayal of Cody at Full Gear might have been rushed, but it was still perfectly executed. Cody wants to meet his former protege in battle, but MJF seems to be turning him down for now, content to just haunt his mind.
But that will eventually change, of course, and not to Cody's betterment.
MJF is going to win the first phase of this war, however long and over however many matches that phase lasts.
After dispatching Cody and rising even more through the ranks, you better believe that MJF will set his sights on the AEW World Championship - just to rub it in Cody's face that much more.
Eventually, he will meet Kenny Omega for the title, where he will shock the world and dethrone the Best Bout Machine to become the fourth AEW World Champion.
From there, a full circle meeting will be awaiting him.
#4 Cody
No doubt, his losses to MJF, and then seeing the traitor become champion before him, will be a major shock to Cody. How can he possibly live this down? He'll have to continue his war indirectly until we see something truly surprising.
Cody stipulated that he would never be able to challenge for the title again should he fail against Jericho - but what if MJF challenges him? Was that part of the stipulation? Either way, it will get broken eventually. Nothing is permanent in pro wrestling, even retirements.
Whatever the details, Cody's long, hard, journey will finally end in the most satisfying manner possible. He will get ultimate vengeance over MJF and secure the first world title of his career, becoming the fifth AEW World Champion.
But he won't be able to rest easy, because a certain disgruntled employee is going to be waiting in the wings, hungry for his time to finally secure top billing in the promotion.
#5 PAC
After Cody finally exorcises the demon of MJF and wins the title, PAC will be on a rampage, angry that a man who was never supposed to challenge for the championship wound up winning it anyway. Clearly, this is a conspiracy of AEW management to continually marginalize and overlook him, he'll say. He'll demand a title shot, no matter what it takes or what carnage he has to leave behind him in order to get it. After all, if it's fair for Cody to abuse his authority, it should be OK for PAC to stretch the limits of what's acceptable as well.
Eventually, he and Cody will collide and PAC will claim the title to become the fifth AEW World Champion, overlooked no more.
But PAC will have baggage from his own past as well, which will emerge to challenge him in a way that he didn't expect.
#6 "Hangman" Adam Page
PAC and Page's paths have intertwined ever since the announcement of AEW's launch in January. It's been a roller coaster since then, with wins, losses, cancellations, rematches, and so on. PAC has generally gotten the better of Page in 2019.
The two appear to have parted ways for now, but only for now.
When PAC wins the AEW World Championship, Page will reemerge against him. Like MJF, Page is one of the younger talents that AEW is keen to push, though he has taken longer to find his footing. Against the champion PAC, he'll get a lot more attention.
The two will collide for a climactic rematch and in the end, Page will dethrone PAC to emerge as the seventh AEW World Champion.
Where the title goes from there, or whether this entire trajectory changes, depends on if any big names come into the company over the next year or so.
