If you read my previous column, you already know what’s up here.
For the rest of you, I received a request to write a column that would have me placed in charge of WWE and AEW. My job in that new role would be to choose new champions for every title in the company based on what I wanted to do, and not on what the current storylines may or may not be indicating.
The request wanted me to start with AEW, but the time crunch coming out of All In(nit) made that a tough one for me pull off, so I went with WWE and NXT first.
Now, it’s finally AEW’s turn.
This isn’t me saying that the current champions are doing a bad job. In some cases, I’m saying that the current champion should remain champion for a very long time. We’re simply talking about title changes, whether they’re a week away or a year away.
As I said, this is about who I would crown as new champions, not predictions on who I think will be the new champions.
Time for some belts to change hands.
AEW National Title (Currently Held By Andrade El Idolo): (Writer’s Note: I wrote this section before Josh Alexander returned on Dynamite and got involved in Darby Allin’s storyline. I’m keeping this here, though, because all of my points remain.) One of the biggest problems that AEW has right now is the amount of titles they have. Yes, the company has a massive roster, but there’s not much of a difference between the National, International, and TNT Titles, are there? Because of that, you could pencil people in for any of those titles, with no issues whatsoever. I’m going to go with a name that I think has been seriously underutilized since he debuted for AEW in April 2025. He’s someone that needs some work, though, as he hasn’t won a match on AEW programming in seven months, and hasn’t won a singles match on AEW programming in 11 months… and that match was a count-out victory. You have to go back to May 21st, 2025 to find the last time Josh Alexander won a singles match on AEW programming by pinfall. AEW fans are smart, though. They don’t view him as a no-talent type of guy just because he loses more often than he wins. Give him some momentum-building wins, and he’ll be in position to compete for a midcard title in no time.
AEW Women’s Tag Team Titles (Currently Held By Jamie Hayter & Alex Windsor): Let’s shake things up a bit. I like the business relationship between AEW and Stardom, and I would continue that business relationship here. AEW needs more instances where the promotions they work with come out on top, even for a brief period of time. Give me the current Goddesses Of Stardom (Stardom’s Tag Titles) Champions, AZM and Miyu Amasaki, in this spot. Unless they’re going to come over for a longer excursion, the 02line duo isn’t going to be a team that holds the AEW belts for an extended period, but that’s fine. Not all reigns need to be record-breaking.
AEW Trios Titles (Currently Held By Swerve Strickland, Austin Creed & Kofi): Generally, this isn’t a championship that is held for a lengthy period of time. Counting the trio of Samoa Joe, Powerhouse Hobbs, and Katsuyori Shibata, who entered the year as champions, Swerve and New Level are the ninth set of champions in 2026. Of the previous 16 champions, six of them saw reigns that lasted less than a month. Combine that with the fact that Kofi and Creed are definitely in AEW to compete for the Tag Team Titles, and I think this is probably going to be another relatively brief reign. I could probably go in a few different directions here, but I’m going with a trio that really needs it for different reasons. Let’s go with “Switchblade” Jay White, Juice Robinson, and Ace Austin here. Switchblade is someone who had people thinking he would be a World Champion when he first signed with AEW, but that obviously hasn’t happened. Juice is someone who gets attention because of the way he looks and the wild antics that his character delivers on-screen, but he’s actually one of the more underrated guys on the AEW roster when it comes to his in-ring work. Ace Austin was yet another in a long, long line of free agent signings for the company that had people excited, only for that signing to do next to nothing. I’d give them all something to do, in one fell swoop. Sure, you could replace any two of them with The Gunns, and you’d still achieve the same thing for the most part. I’d prefer to focus on getting The Gunns some momentum as a tag team, though. Thanks to injuries and inactivity, it has been nearly two-and-a-half years since The Gunns won a two-on-two tag match on AEW programming. I’ll just build the entire group up a bit.
AEW TBS Title (Currently Held By Persephone): At first glance, this choice might not make a ton of sense, based on what happened during the All In(nit) pre-show, but I think I’m going to go with none other than Dr. Britt Baker, DMD in this spot. She made her return after nearly two years away, attacking Maya World to help Persephone win the title, but it’s not like we’re talking about Britt and Persephone as these inseparable partners that have been best friends for years. Britt can feud with Maya for a little bit, but eventually, ol’ Doc Smiley is going to be hungry for her first taste of an AEW title since she dropped the Women’s Title back in March 2022. The face/heel alignment doesn’t really matter here. Britt is going to be cheered against Persephone, just like she was cheered when she was revealed to be the attacker of Maya, who is a face.
AEW TNT Title (Currently Held By Darby Allin): Obviously, it isn’t complete across the board, but one thing you should’ve noticed in this column and the WWE edition I posted last week is that I’m trying to build people up. I like taking people who could really use a championship victory and giving it to them. I’m going to do that again here, picking Buddy Matthews for this spot. It has been almost 19 full months since Buddy wrestled, but he was recently cleared to return to in-ring action. With Malakai Black no longer in the company, and with Brody King on to other things, I think it would be great to see Buddy step out on his own as a singles star. Let him get his big return, build him up a bit since he hasn’t won a match as a singles wrestler in AEW since the pre-show of Full Gear 2024 nearly two years ago, and eventually, have him place Darby in his sights. Easy.
AEW Continental Title (Currently Held By Jon Moxley): For this spot, I’m going to go with someone I’ve been demanding Tony Khan push as a singles star. He’s been pushed as a tag guy and as a trios guy, but TK has yet to pull the trigger on a singles push. I’m going with Brody King here. The rules for the Continental Title benefit Brody, in my opinion. Title matches feature a 20-minute time limit, and someone like Brody King… especially in a match against someone like Jon Moxley… isn’t going to need more time than that to wrap things up. They’d be able to beat the holy hell out of each other, and when you drop enough bombs on each other, there’s no need for a 45-minute match.
AEW Tag Team Titles (Currently Held By Adam Copeland & Christian Cage): The tag division in AEW sure is heating up, isn’t it? Not only is the division deep, but it is filled with many of the greatest tag teams of the last 30 years, and many that fans feel are some of the greatest tag teams of all-time. Think back to All In(nit) for a moment… Copeland and Cage had just successfully defended the titles against The Young Bucks. In the post-match happenings, the champs were confronted by the Motor City Machine Guns, FTR, and New Level, all while the Bucks were still in the ring. It was a huge moment for the company, and for tag wrestling, as a whole. In the immediate aftermath, what did we get? It was revealed that Copeland and Cage will be defending the titles at All Out, and that the match will be a Three-Way Ladder Match involving FTR and the Bucks. Austin Creed and Kofi, of course, are still two-thirds of the AEW Trios Champions, and they will undoubtedly be working at All Out in a defense of those belts, officially coming after the Tag Team Titles once that obligation is no longer there. What team is left out of the conversation? The team that I’m going with here… Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin, the Motor City Machine Guns. Sure, MCMG are great, but it’s pretty clear that they’ve been positioned as being on a lower tier than the other teams mentioned in this entry. They could use this win a lot more than the other teams, so I’m giving it to them.
AEW International Title (Currently Held By Kazuchika Okada): I’m going to go with a name here that isn’t exactly a young, up-and-coming talent. They can’t all be wrestlers who fit in that category, of course. Give me Claudio Castagnoli here. I’m tired of seeing Claudio as being nothing more than a crony of Jon Moxley. Claudio remains the best worker of the group, and is also the most consistent performer. What does he have to show for that in his four-plus years with AEW? A reign as one-third of the Trios Champions, and that’s it. He deserves something else, and a nice singles title win, especially over an all-time great like Okada, sounds like just the ticket.
RoH World Title (Currently Held By Bandido): Just for fun, I’ve decided to throw in the top two titles in Ring Of Honor, as well. Bandido has been the RoH World Champion since April 2025, but I’m going to put his reign much closer to the end than the beginning. Not because he’s done anything wrong, but because I’d like to see him moved on to more of a permanent spot on AEW shows. For my choice here, I’m going to go with Nick Wayne, who really impressed me at the recent RoH pay-per-view, Death Before Dishonor. His match with Bandido at DBD was a fantastic bout. It’s not that I wasn’t aware of his in-ring abilities. It was more of me wanting to see how he handled himself in a truly “big match” situation. Not only did he handle himself well, but he proved that he is everything his biggest supporters have said he is… a 21-year-old pro wrestling prodigy with as bright a future as anyone in the business. It’s clear that he deserves another shot after taking the champion to the limit, and I’d give him that shot at some point soon, giving him the win. Even at that young age, I think he’s ready to be at the top of the Ring Of Honor mountain.
RoH Women’s World Title (Currently Held By Athena): Dear Lord, it almost has to be an AEW “regular” that beats her, doesn’t it? She has held this title since December 10th, 2022 and has beaten all of the RoH names again and again and again. At this stage, she is miles above anyone else on the RoH roster, and you can’t even form a realistic case for any of them to defeat her. I’m going to split it down the middle a bit… someone who I think more people would view as an “AEW wrestler” and an “RoH wrestler,” but also someone who isn’t a stranger to both shows. I think a lot of you will be surprised by this choice, but I’m going with Skye Blue. Is she the best in-ring worker in the women’s division? No. Is she the worst, though? No. I think she has improved a pretty good amount as time goes by. The biggest reason she’s here, though, is her penchant for matches of the more violent, hardcore variety. That’s the type of “weapon” that can be used as a strength against someone like Athena, who has beaten everyone, with every in-ring style, and every plan of attack, for nearly four full years. If you’re looking for an added bonus, we haven’t seen Athena and Skye wrestle each other in a one-on-one competition in nearly three-and-a-half years. Both women are very different today than they were in May 2023, but I think Skye is much more different over that period than Athena is. I don’t think Skye beating Athena, say, next week is going to be something that is believable. However, with the right momentum (there’s that word again), I think she’s someone that can be viewed as a believable opponent, and even a believable champion.
AEW Women’s World Title (Currently Held By Mercedes Moné): Well, when the rumor was that Bayley was about to leave WWE and potentially be on her way to AEW, she would’ve made perfect sense in this spot. Now, the rumor has shifted again, saying that Bayley is staying in WWE, after all, so there goes that. Even as I type this very sentence, I’m still going back and forth between two choices for this entry. One is a more “obvious” choice, and the other is a “way out of left field” choice that, if done correctly, could be a blast to witness. Just for shits and giggles, I’m going to list both choices here. The “obvious” one is Willow Nightingale. She’s the “it girl” in the eyes, minds, and hearts of AEW fans all over the globe. Yes, she just dropped the title to Mercedes, but that story was the right one at the time. Putting the title on Mercedes was the correct thing to do at All In(nit), but moving forward, the correct thing to do is putting the title back on Willow at some point. It will do a lot for her, and the title itself, if she can topple Mercedes to reach the top again. The “out of left field” choice is Harley Cameron. I know, I know… hear me out. Yes, she’s more of a “comedy character,” but she does that well, and is incredibly entertaining in that role. She can win the title without having to wrestle a five-star, 30-minute classic. It would be one of the bigger moments in recent AEW history, and if done correctly, it would lead to a huge pop. No, her title reign wouldn’t be very long, and she’d probably drop the title right back to Mercedes within a couple weeks, if that, but it could still be something fun to witness.
AEW World Title (Currently Held By Will Ospreay): I think the option that makes the most sense is Kyle Fletcher. Not only is Kyle clearly being positioned as someone who is going to be the AEW World Champion much sooner than later, but his lengthy history with Ospreay immediately adds several layers to the story. AEW is now in that strange spot where, as I said, Kyle needs to win the World Title much sooner than later, but at the same time, Ospreay has no business dropping the title at any point soon. If the perfect middle ground can be found, this needs to be the direction the company goes in.
You know the deal… what do you think of my choices for the next sets of new champions in AEW? As always, feel free to hit me up in the comments section below, on Twitter (@HustleTheSavage), or on Bluesky (@aaronhyden.bsky.social), and let me know what’s on your mind.
Now, let’s do like we do every week and switch things over to my Weekly Power Rankings before closing it out with the list of songs I was listening to as I put this column together.
Weekly Power Rankings
Penta vs Rey Fenix: Just a great match, with both men working extra hard as they were competing for the biggest chance of their careers. It’s not a surprise that Penta won, moving him on to face Roman Reigns for the World Heavyweight Title on next week’s episode of Raw that will be taking place in Mexico City. Nothing against Rey Fenix, who is amazing and would’ve had a super fun match with Roman, but Penta is the bigger star, and that atmosphere in Mexico City is going to be electric for him.
CM Punk vs Johnny Gargano: Is Johnny Wrestling back for good? While the “planking” schtick had its funny moments, and his commitment to the bit was impressive, it’s still something that went on for WAY too long. It will be fun to see him back as a regular performer again, and right away, you have to think that he could be a fun contender for the United States Title.
Will Ospreay, Andrade El Idolo, Callum Newman, Henare & Francisco Akira vs Ricochet, Bishop Kaun, Toa Liona, Clark Connors & Gabe Kidd: This match was a ton of fun. Yes, half of the people in it are wrestlers that the majority of pro wrestling fans in North America don’t care about, but that didn’t affect the quality of the match itself. I continue to shake my head at the way Will Ospreay is being portrayed and presented on AEW programming, but he’s still someone who has a strong claim to being the best wrestler in the world today.
Jacob Fatu: The beginning of Raw was reminiscent of the Attitude Era in the best ways. There was a chaotic start (more on that later), and then it was followed by Jacob coming out unannounced and cutting an angry promo that included a (censored) f-word. It was all surprising, and I enjoyed every second of it. Jacob is as believable as it gets with his on-screen persona, and he makes you pay attention when he’s around.
Andrade El Idolo vs Gabe Kidd: At the very start of 2025, Gabe Kidd had an incredible star-making performance in a match against Kenny Omega at NJPW/AEW/CMLL Wrestle Dynasty. While he’s had some success in AEW and in New Japan since then, he just isn’t at the same level that I thought he’d be a year-and-a-half later. He’s still having fun matches, clearly, but I guess I was just expecting more.
Cody Rhodes vs Randy Orton: Earlier, I mentioned something that was reminiscent of the Attitude Era in the best ways. This match was reminiscent of the Attitude Era in some of the worst ways. It was overbooked to all hell, but the match was still really entertaining. I guess that’s what matters when all is said and done.
Juice Robinson & Ace Austin vs Kyle Fletcher & Kevin Knight: A fun tag team match that didn’t need a ton of bells and whistles to go with it. It’s seemingly rare these days, but it can be effective when it’s done right.
Swerve Strickland, Kofi & Austin Creed vs Dezmond Xavier, Zachary Wentz & Myron Reed: It’s going to take a long, long time for me to get used to seeing Kofi wrestling somewhere other than WWE. Yes, Austin Creed was a WWE guy for 16 years, but I also saw him wrestle in TNA for a couple years before he ever signed with WWE. It’s a cool thing to witness.
Noam Dar & Romeo Moreno vs Sean Legacy & Dorian Van Dux: A high-paced, action-packed tag match between four exciting talents in NXT. Dar has been around for a while, but the other three guys are some of the top young talents on the NXT roster. I say that, but Noam is only 33, so it’s not like he’s close to retiring.
Oba Femi vs Bron Breakker: This was never going to be a match that saw a clean ending. Not in their first encounter, and not on Sunday Night’s Main Event. If you look at it from that point of view, this was something I enjoyed. It certainly sets things up for another match in the future, so sign me up for that. The most memorable part of this, though, was the return of…
Bronson Reed: “Big” Bronson is now “Nowhere-Near-As-Big” Bronson, and he looks like a million bucks. He was building up a lot of momentum before his most recent injury, so I’m very interested to see where he goes from here. The problem with where he made his return is that it’s easy to see him simply being someone who can distract Oba Femi for a while, losing to Oba as we wait for Oba to fully reach the main event scene.
Trick Williams: I think the Baron Corbin Experiment can be viewed as a flop. It didn’t do anything to help anyone, and the live crowds didn’t care about it. I’m glad to see the United States Title back on Trick, and I hope he can move on from the nonsense.
The Creed Brothers: It still boggles my mind that the Creeds haven’t done anything at all on the main roster. After a brief-yet-exciting run in NXT, they were called up, and it looked like they were the type of tag team that WWE would want to push… and it just never happened. It has been almost a year-and-a-half since they won a tag match on WWE television. Seeing them make their return to NXT, even if it ends up being nothing more than a just short stay, makes me happy. The NXT crowd is going to accept them with open arms, and they’re going to do well with some of these speedy tag teams that NXT features.
Royce Keys, Bronco Nima & Lucien Price: Like I said earlier, the start of Raw was a blast, with these three attacking the Usos when Jimmy and Jey made their arrival at the arena. There’s a lot of potential with the newly-named 946 trio. Now, it’s just a matter if they can do enough to get live crowds to care about them.
Dragon Lee vs “All Ego” Ethan Page: Another entertaining match, in a very long line of them, with the names that are in Monday Night Raw’s Intercontinental Title scene. Works for me.
This Week’s Playlist: “That’s Not Fair” by The Paradox… “From A Distance” by 156/Silence & Alex Reade… “The Lost Kids” by Chaosbay… “Pulse” by Movements… “Every Version Of You” by My First Time… “Last Night” by The Gringos… “Terrified” by Civic Video… “Fill Me In” by Craig David… “7 Days” by Craig David… “Made For Me” by Muni Long… “Baba O’Riley” by The Who… “Ace Trumpets” by Clipse… “Love Song” by Maoli… “Whisper” by Maoli… “Jowenna” by Fiji… “Alive” by The Green… “Seriously” by Katchafire… “Brothers and Sisters” by SOJA… “One More Chance” by Leylani… “You Won’t Be Alone” by HIRIE… “Did You Know?” by Fiji… “Love Me” by Fia… “Utu Bang Bang” by Ka’ikena Scanlan… “In Your Arms” by Kaipo… “Heartache” by One Groove… “Take Me Away” by Laga Savea… “Can’t Wait” by Micah G… “I’d Rather” by Luther Vandross… “luther” by Kendrick Lamar & SZA… “tv off” by Kendrick Lamar & Lefty Gunplay
