*By Request*
“I know you’ve done articles like this in the past, but I was wondering if you could do one of those articles where you pick who should be the next person to hold a particular title? Like who should beat this champion to win this title, who should beat that champion to win that title? I like WWE, but I prefer AEW so I was wondering if you could start with them? Thank you either way.”
Yeah, I have done columns like this in the past. In fact, I think the last time I did it was for AEW. I don’t remember exactly when I posted it, but I believe it was either late-2023 or early-2024.
This is a simple enough request, but there’s also going to be a bit of a change. The request asked for me to start with AEW, but I’m going to start with WWE and NXT first, simply because this column will be posted mere hours after the conclusion of AEW’s All In(nit) pay-per-view, and with eight titles on the line during the show, a lot could make my column completely irrelevant before I have a chance to change anything. Because of that, I’m going to do the AEW edition of this column after the dust settles at All In(nit).
Yes, I’m aware NXT is having Heatwave on the same day as All In(nit), but one, there are less titles on the line at Heatwave, and two, NXT usually doesn’t have as many title changes in a single show than AEW tends to have.
If you’re new to my work, the request laid this out in a straightforward way. I take every championship, and I mention who would be the next champion if I had my way. It doesn’t mean I’m saying the current champion is doing a bad job, or needs to lose their title anytime soon. I’m merely pointing that that at some point down the road… a day, a week, a month, or even a year (*clap, clap, clap, clap*) from now… these people should become new champions.
Again, this is about who would be the next champions if I had my way. These aren’t predictions on who will be the next champions.
Other than saving the top titles for the end, every other championship will be listed in no particular order, so keep that in mind.
Let’s crown some new champions, shall we?
NXT Tag Team Titles (Currently Held By Brad Baylor & Ricky Smokes): For my choice here, I’m going to tweak an existing pairing. I’m going with Charlie Dempsey & Uriah Connors. They’re both members of the BirthRight stable, but Connors almost exclusively teams with Channing Lorenzo. In fact, Connors and Dempsey have only teamed up on television once, and that was in a ten-person tag match at Stand & Deliver earlier this year. However, pairing the son of William Regal (Dempsey) with the son of Fit Finlay (Connors) is too enticing for me to ignore. I think the two of them could be great as a regular tag team, and putting them across from Baylor and Smokes would be a blast, no matter what the face/heel alignment would be.
WWE Women’s United States Title (Currently Held By Jacy Jayne): This might not be a popular pick, but I’m going to go with Charlotte Flair. She remains one of the biggest stars in all of women’s wrestling, but despite that, it has been almost three-and-a-half years since she held a singles title. That is the longest she has gone without a singles title in her career, and it’s not even close. It’s only a matter of time before she gets another one. I know it. You know it. She knows it. Instead of giving her another World Title, I think there’s some mileage that can be had in giving her a title that she has never held before. She’s still got plenty of time to win more World Titles, but I think something like this would be beneficial to her at this stage.
NXT North American Title (Currently Held By Jackson Drake): I’ve gone back and forth on this one for quite a while, bouncing between different names a bunch, but ultimately, I’ve decided to go with Saquon Shugars. When he was a member of DarkState, he was a solid piece to a group that carried a ton of potential. Once he was booted from the group, I was curious to see how he would fare on his own. So far, I’d say he has done pretty well for himself. He just won a Weaponized Steel Cage Match against Dion Lennox in what should’ve been a feud ender, meaning he has momentum now, and that momentum could carry him up the card to a spot like this, even if it isn’t something that happens right this moment. I think he’d be a good choice here.
NXT Women’s North American Title (Currently Held By Zaria): The person I’m picking here would force a lengthy title reign for Zaria because this person needs to build some momentum before they’re in line for any titles. This person hasn’t won a singles match on NXT programming since the end of January… ironically, that win came against Zaria. I’m going with Thea Hail. NXT has been super hot-and-cold with pushing her. She’ll get a mini-push, and the crowds will get behind her, but it will go nowhere, and she’ll disappear again, only to reappear at some point with another mini-push. I don’t think Thea has ever truly washed the stink off from when she accidentally won this very Women’s North American Title from Blake Monroe last December. I’d give her some momentum, get her back in the title picture, and then give her the chance to actually earn the title to see what she can do with it.
WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles (Currently Held By Fallon Henley & Lainey Reid): Looking at this particular set of titles is interesting, as they’re able to be defended on Raw, Smackdown, or in NXT. That automatically opens the door to more challengers and opponents. We’ve seen the titles in NXT before, but this time around, I’d not only have the titles visit NXT, but I’d have them stay there, as well. Give me Kendal Grey and Wren Sinclair here. Fallon and Lainey are still new to the main roster after their own stints in NXT, so it’s not like people are going to view them as being “above” a team from NXT, which really helps. WrenQCC is a team that has gotten very over in NXT, and this could be a fun title change, even if it’s something that doesn’t last all that long.
WWE Intercontinental Title (Currently Held By Chad Gable): First and foremost, I don’t think the title should change hands for a while. WWE has been telling a several-year story with Chad Gable, and he hasn’t even been the champion for a month as of the moment this column goes live to the world. He has earned the right to have a lengthy title reign, and he should have just that. My pick here is going to be Je’Von Evans, because he’s someone that is still young and won’t be hurt by having to wait to become a champion. If Gable’s title reign is good enough and lengthy enough, then you can automatically put someone over huge by having them end the reign. If Je’Von is truly going to be one of the company’s bigger stars in the future, you can get the ball rolling on that by giving him a big-time win to become the Intercontinental Champion at some point soon. Live crowds still love him, and they’re ready for something to happen for him.
WWE Women’s Intercontinental Title (Currently Held By Raquel Rodriguez): There are a couple good options here, but I’m going to go with Stephanie Vaquer. She’s a big-time star, and you have to take advantage of things like that. Strike while the iron is hot, and so on and so forth. She’ll add a different level of prestige to the Women’s Intercontinental Title, and that’s a very important thing for a championship that isn’t even two years old yet.
NXT Women’s Title (Currently Held By Kelani Jordan): Nothing against Kelani, who is great, but I really don’t think it was time to take the title off of Kendal Grey yet. She was doing great work, and she only ended up with a two-month reign, which is a shame. If we’re looking for who should take the belt off of Kelani, though, we have to take a long, hard look because she just won the title, so it’s difficult to track. When Kendal was listed here, you have no idea how badly I wanted to put Myla Lockwood as the name to dethrone her down the road, because I can see the vision of the unstoppable monster as the champion, but I still have to see more of her in the ring before I jump to anything like that. For now, I’m going to go with Jaida Parker here. She and Kelani are always going to have their names connected. They both arrived in NXT with no independent experience, and both debuted in the same match on the same show. Since then, they’ve had a handful of matches against each other. With Kelani reaching the top of the NXT women’s division, and with Jaida picking up a big win in her feud with Nattie, this one makes sense, and seems like a pretty natural fit.
WWE United States Title (Currently Held By Baron Corbin): While I wouldn’t complain at all if Trick Williams won the title back, I’m going with the second-most “obvious” choice here and saying that it should be Carmelo Hayes. There might not be a more confusing case of booking in all of WWE than what they’re doing with Melo. He was on such a role with the United States Title at the tail end of 2025 through the first three months of 2026, with great matches on a regular basis and getting live crowds behind them. In the five months since he dropped the title, he has won a total of two matches on television… one of those wins came via disqualification, and the other one happened three-and-a-half months ago. Crowds are still behind him, and they certainly care more about him than they have about Corbin since ol’ Baron made his return to the company. Just give Melo the ball already and let him do what he does.
WWE Tag Team Titles (Currently Held By Tama Tonga & Talla Tonga): I’d like to put Shinsuke Nakamura and Kyoki here, but it’s way too early for that. We still have to see how the artist-formerly-known-as Hiromu Takahashi adapts to the WWE style, and how the live crowds take to him. With that team out of the running, I’m going to go with Axiom & Nathan Frazer. I keep reading about how WWE wants to make their tag divisions better… forget the fact that their releases have screwed the tag divisions in the first place… but if you’re trying to do that, then why not give a push to one of the best teams on the entire roster? It’s been too long since FrAxiom were taken as a serious threat on the main roster, and I would change that right away.
WWE World Tag Team Titles (Currently Held By Bron Breakker & Austin Theory): I already know this is going to be an unpopular pick, but I don’t care, because I’ve been championing this team for a couple years. I’m going with Otis & Akira Tozawa. No, they aren’t exactly the winningest of teams in all of pro wrestling, but they have proven time and time and time again that they’re over with live crowds. Those crowds are waiting to have a reason to cheer for these guys, and the Maxxine Dupri heel turn could/should be the reason they’re finally given that reason. If you have Maxxine and Austin Theory finally get their comeuppance, and it results in a surprise title change, you’re looking at an arena that is going to explode. WWE is in the “moments” business, and that’s going to be quite the “moment” if it happens.
WWE Women’s World Title (Currently Held By Liv Morgan): Like many of you, I’m someone who feels that The Judgment Day has run its course as a group, or at least with its current members. I’ve said this for a while now, but I think it’s time to give Roxanne Perez the chance to shine. She is the best in-ring performer of any of the women in the group, but she has been positioned as the clear third-best option of the trio. This isn’t a knock on Liv Morgan or Raquel Rodriguez, by the way. Liv is a star, and Raquel is a monster, so they should be pushed. I just think Roxanne is deserving of more than what she has been getting. I’ve been pushing for the group to be split up, with a face turn for Roxanne after she grows tired of being pushed around, so that’s what I would do here.
WWE Women’s Title (Currently Held By Chelsea Green): She hasn’t even wrestled a match on the main roster yet, but I’d go with Blake Monroe here. This is another instance where I don’t want to see the title reign end at any point soon, though. Chelsea Green is on fire right now, and if she doesn’t end up with at least a decently long title reign, there’s something wrong. Eventually, though, you have to start looking at who will shine the brightest by being the one to dethrone one of the most popular acts on the WWE roster. Blake Monroe is someone who WWE should have big plans for, and right now, there aren’t much bigger plans for the women in the company than ending the fairy tale that is Chelsea’s rise to the top.
NXT Title (Currently Held By Grayson Waller): After that “shoot” promo he cut in his return to NXT, it was clear that big things were in his future. Sure enough, Grayson won the NXT Championship at Heatwave. I think he deserves a good run with the title, so I wouldn’t have him drop it too quickly, but when he does drop it, I think it should be to Cruz Montana. Unless Paul Levesque falls in love with him, he’s someone that was brought to NXT to be a big deal, as a former (two-time) TNA World Champion and someone who has seen varying levels of success just about everywhere he has wrestled. He’s someone that the NXT crowds have already gotten behind, and will support him as he tries to add another big title to his list of accolades. Like I said, though, this is something I’d wait to pull the trigger on. I think Grayson Waller should at least be given the chance to have the title for most of the rest of 2026, if not into 2027.
WWE World Heavyweight Title (Currently Held By Roman Reigns): There are a couple options here, but I’m going with the choice that’s on everybody’s mind… Oba Femi. It’s a huge, mega money match that needs to take place. The only problem right now is that people have been assuming the match will take place at WrestleMania, but WrestleMania is a seven-plus months away. How in the world do you keep these two apart for the next seven months? I’m really not sure that you can. They had to give Oba a trilogy of matches with Brock Lesnar to keep him occupied for a few months, and it looks like they’re moving him on to a feud with Bron Breakker now. He can’t just keep having random feuds, even if they produce exciting matches and moments. I have no doubt that Roman can be a believable champion until WrestleMania, but I don’t think we can wait that long. It needs to happen at a “lesser” event. You could do it at Survivor Series in November, but WWE has a thing for keeping Roman away from title matches at Survivor Series. Since he first became this Tribal Chief character, Roman has wrestled in two “Champion vs Champion” matches at Survivor Series (back when that was the theme of the show), three War Games matches, and was absent from the card once. In fact, you have to go all the way back to 2015 to find the last time Roman Reigns was involved in a World Title match at Survivor Series, which is a crazy stat. I’d change that. WWE is running another stadium for Survivor Series this year, and they could use a bit of a boost for ticket sales after the disappointment that was SummerSlam, so putting Roman vs Oba there should be the move.
Undisputed WWE Title (Currently Held By CM Punk): Initially, I had Kevin Owens listed here, but then word came out that he may have suffered some sort of leg injury at a house show over the weekend. Until we’ve figured out if it’s a work or not, and if it’s not a work, how serious it is, I’m going to go in a different direction here. Instead, let’s go with Cody Rhodes. However, not just Cody Rhodes, but Cody Rhodes that goes through with his long-awaited heel turn to win the belt. At some point, Cody is going to be driven insane by how often he gets screwed over, attacked, and taken advantage of because he’s too nice, and when that happens, it could be another special moment. It’s time. Pull the trigger.
What do you think of my choices? You certainly don’t have to go through every title in WWE, but who would you choose as some of the next champions? 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 switch it over to my Weekly Power Rankings before closing things out with the list of songs I was listening to as I put this column together.
Weekly Power Rankings
Kenny Omega vs Will Ospreay: I didn’t get to do a review column because I didn’t watch All In(nit) until late last night, and when I watched it, I wasn’t near a computer. This was a fantastic match, though. It was everything that it should be for the main event of AEW’s biggest show of the year. It will surely end up on plenty of year-end Match Of The Year lists in a few months.
Adam Copeland & Christian Cage vs The Young Bucks: Another super fun match that was deserving of being in a prime spot on the biggest AEW show of the year.
Willow Nightingale vs Mercedes Moné: It’s a shame that Willow reportedly broke her hand in the lead-up to the show, but she had herself one helluva performance here, even in a losing effort.
Kendal Grey vs Kelani Jordan: Once again, I have to point out that Kendal Grey is absolutely on fire recently. I thought her reign as the NXT Women’s Champion would’ve been longer than 63 days, but we’ll see where she goes from here.
Kyle Fletcher vs Kazuchika Okada vs Konosuke Takeshita: A great match, but not quite the all-time classic that many people predicted it could’ve been. In any other AEW pay-per-view, this match would’ve been 30+ minutes, without a doubt. All In(nit) featured a local curfew that prevented the show from going over five hours like we’ve seen AEW shows do in the past. The extra 15 or so minutes could’ve really taken this one to a different level.
Rey Fenix vs EK Prosper: Last week, I basically guaranteed this match was going to end up on this week’s Power Rankings. Sure enough… here it is. A great high flying contest, and another piece of a busy week for Fenix.
Tony D’Angelo vs Cruz Montana vs Zilla Fatu vs Grayson Waller: Non-stop action, and honestly, the right man won. I know some people were picking Zilla to win, but that rumor that he’s going to be on the main roster sooner than later probably keeps him away from winning titles in a spot like this.
Rey Fenix vs Dragon Lee: A super fun match, but holy hell, that dive to the outside by Dragon Lee was magnificent. One of the spots of the year so far, in my opinion.
Swerve Strickland, Austin Creed & Kofi: I didn’t get to see the entire match because Tony Khan has a weird obsession with starting pay-per-view openers during the pre-show, but we got the heavily rumored AEW debuts of Kofi and Creed. It was great to see them again. They seemed really motivated again. Congratulations to the brand new AEW Trios Champions.
Casino Gauntlet Match: An entertaining match that saw the competitors fighting for a future shot at the AEW World Title. That meant everyone was working with extra motivation. A lot of people hate the concept of the Casino Gauntlet, and while I understand their point of view, I don’t see it as being overly convoluted, so I don’t mind it. Andrade is a good choice for the winner. The AEW crowds are really supporting him, and he’s going to have a really good match with Will Ospreay.
Cody Rhodes & Randy Orton: The stipulation was that these two can’t lay a finger on each other before their match at Sunday Night’s Main Event or they would lose the right to challenge for a World Title in WWE for the rest of their careers. In an attempt to get the other to take a shot, both men decided to get very personal with their promos. Taking shots at each other’s fathers was expected, but Randy took it to another level by taking shots at Cody’s wife and then mentioning Cody’s kids having to bury their dog in the backyard. The best part about the Pharaoh Rhodes mention is that, as far as I’m aware, Pharaoh is still alive. Very, very old, and not in the best of health, but alive nonetheless. It still made for an entertaining segment, though.
Dr. Britt Baker, DMD: In her first appearance on AEW programming since November 2024, ol’ Doc Smiley showed up to help Persephone defeat Maya World to become the new AEW TBS Champion. The fact that her return happened on the pre-show is ridiculous, but I’m glad to see her back.
Kevin Knight vs Darby Allin: A fun match that showcased how crazy both of these men are. It was also nice to see Sting and his son, Steven Borden, get involved. There was even a fun spot where Sting and Steven were on opposite sides of a ladder, looking like a real Back To The Future moment.
Jon Moxley vs Claudio Castagnoli: Two of the best in the business, putting their partnership aside as they compete for a spot in the Finals of the Continental Challenge Cup. Simple. Effective.
Royce Keys, Bronco Nima & Lucien Price: Sure, it didn’t happen to much of a crowd reaction, but this was a fun main roster debut for Nima and Price, showing up alongside Royce Keys to form some sort of new stable. There’s some potential for that group moving forward.
Saquon Shugars vs Dion Lennox: As I mentioned earlier, this was a good way to (hopefully) end the feud between Shugars and his former DarkState buddies, and (hopefully) send Shugars moving up the card soon.
Jamie Hayter & Alex Windsor: Congratulations to the brand new AEW Women’s Tag Team Champions, who were able to win the titles in front of their countrymen and countrywomen.
Chris Jericho, “Speedball” Mike Bailey & Komander vs Tommaso Ciampa, Nick Wayne & Mark Davis: A “meaningless” match with nothing on the line, but it was a good preview, of sorts, for the Casino Gauntlet, so I’ll take it.
Nigel McGuinness vs Jon Moxley: Putting Nigel in the final match of the Continental Challenge Cup was a good story, letting him wrestle in front of his home country fans again. This was fun, but the expected, and correct, finish happened.
Stephanie Vaquer vs Roxanne Perez: With the busy week, this match will probably be forgotten right away, but it was still enjoyable. For all that is holy, though, can we do something with Roxanne soon? She’s too good to be in the spot she’s in.
Jackson Drake: Congratulations to the brand new NXT North American Champion. The Vanity Project is now draped in championships, because…
Brad Baylor & Ricky Smokes: Congratulations to the brand new NXT Tag Team Champions. All three men in the group hold titles in NXT, and then you have Myka Lockwood, who could easily win a title of her own at any point.
Persephone: Congratulations to the brand new AEW TBS Champion. The main reason she ranks so low on the list is because I didn’t watch the All In(nit) pre-show, so I can’t truly rate how things went for her. She has the title, though, so there’s that.
This Week’s Playlist: “I Am” by Rod Wave… “Piece Of Your Love” by Rod Wave… “One More Time” by Rod Wave… “With This Tear” by Prince… “Beautiful Again” by Beartooth… “Red Alert” by Catch Your Breath… “green room” by Holywatr… “That’s Law” by CZARFACE & Frankie Pulitzer… “Mad Technology” by CZARFACE, Method Man & Frankie Pulitzer… “I Wanna Know” by The Foreign Exchange… “Maybe She’ll Dream Of Me” by The Foreign Exchange… “I Always Feel Like” by TRU… “Hard White (Remix)” by Yelawolf, T.I. & Slaughterhouse… “Billy Crystal” by Yelawolf & Rock City… “Pop The Trunk” by Yelawolf… “Box Chevy” by Yelawolf & Rittz… “Beast Mode” by B.o.B… “Epic” by Faith No More… “This Means War!!” by Busta Rhymes & Ozzy Osbourne… “Undead” by Hollywood Undead… “Radioactive” by Imagine Dragons & Kendrick Lamar… “Petrified” by Fort Minor… “In Stereo” by Fort Minor… “Kenji” by Fort Minor… “You Gots To Chill” by EPMD
