With Hangman in the rearview, there are no shortage of challengers for AEW champion MJF

If you look at any story in any form of media, there are protagonists and antagonists. Their moral compasses and ethical codes might not always be cut and dried, and they may very well operate in the moral grey. Regardless of whether they live in the grey area or the much more pronounced black and white, we identify with the stories of those main characters and what they represent.

Many wrestlers have stepped through the ring ropes to work for All Elite Wrestling. A good number of those you could argue should be in the conversation for the greatest of all time. Some are stalwart fixtures in pro wrestling that lasted decades like Sting or Chris Jericho. Others are known for their exceptional in-ring work, whether that’s Kenny Omega, Bryan Danielson, Okada, or anyone else on AEW’s roster.

Among them I’d be hesitant to call any “main characters” of AEW. They’re legends and greatness personified in their own way, but if you consider for a moment what the heartbeat of AEW is at its core, it’s what it’s founded upon as an upstart promotion, off a hedged bet, on the backs of the passionate opposite characters that Hangman Page and MJF have grown into since the company’s inception in 2019.

Regardless of Revolution’s outcome, which thankfully was what it should have been, the intertwined story of Page and MJF is not over. It might not be for the AEW championship for a while if ever again, but Page excluding himself from the world title picture hardly means they’ll never wrestle again. MJF will not always be world champion; not only are there other titles to fight over, but I’d argue what they represent to each other transcends the need for championships. Their feud isn’t just a matter of wins and losses, accolades and championships. It’s a philosophical one. This isn’t a matter of MJF and Adam Cole becoming buddies, or Swerve Strickland and Page learning to see eye to eye for a common goal. Fundamentally Page and MJF can’t be allies. They’re oil and water.

I am personally not convinced that Hangman Page never challenges again. That just seems unrealistic and I think if you’re really trying to assert MJF as the apex, top fixture in AEW, right now Page needs to be out of the way completely. That’s what was ultimately accomplished with the match outcome at Revolution. Extreme? Definitely. But if we accept Page is AEW’s hero, the Superman to MJF’s Luthor, then Superman is dead like it’s 1993. MJF’s post-match Revolution promo said as much.

However, while I think it’s far flung to be thinking potentially a year or more ahead, I think realistically if they needed to they can use Page again and have him hedge his entire career on one more chance. An example I used in my predictions column was to do it at Double or Nothing 2027. I don’t know if MJF’s reign lasts that long, and if he is champion around that time next year, maybe he’s already traded the championship back and forth with one of the gentlemen below.

I think it was a smart move, and I think there’s plenty you can do with Hangman Page outside the world title picture. I would be shocked though if he never challenges again. As was pointed out at the presser, it was only, after all, a verbal agreement.

Is MJF better than this list of challengers?

With MJF appearing on Dynamite tonight for the first time since his defence at Revolution, and with Page out of the way, it’s open season on MJF and his championship. The gauntlet of challengers began to form tonight, and while most of the people below have already declared their intent, some have not and probably won’t until summertime.

Although his first reign probably didn’t end as strongly as it could have, the first part of his first reign was littered with good first time matchups that pushed him beyond his comfort zone. I think that’s very much what this second reign has already rekindled to spiritually succeed the best parts of his first reign. Further to that, I think his Texas Deathmatch with Page set the tone for what to expect going forward, whether it’s a high-speed matchup, a rekindling of old rivalries, or the car crash that would surely be an all out battle with someone like Darby Allin. However after his victory over Swerve Strickland on Dynamite Wednesday night, Kenny Omega is up first for Maxwell Jacob Friedman.

Kenny Omega

Kenny Omega was first to declare that he had MJF in his sights, and after his win over Swerve he declared his intentions and challenged MJF for the AEW title at Dynasty in April. I think this is a good next challenge in the post-Hangman world, and I think it’s early enough that if another challenger is needed in the future you can circle back to Omega-MJF 3. I think now that Omega is healthier than their previous singles match, the match itself should really put a stamp on what we perceive their capabilities to be in 2026.

From a narrative view, where it really works, along with Andrade and Takeshita (mentioned below), they are all current or former associates of Don Callis, who either were betrayed by him or likely could be in the near future. Omega’s history with Callis puts him in a unique place where his character has added motivation to dethrone MJF for himself, for Hangman, for AEW as a whole, and on top of all of that, his own legacy. Never mind that he’d also get to stick it to Callis if there is something to MJF and Callis’ perceived association. This also makes Omega the second member of the Elite that MJF will be looking to dispatch. Even if Omega is there to only show out in defeat but ultimately serve to pad MJF’s reign with another staple win. I think Omega gets a second reign at some point, but I don’t think it comes at the expense of MJF in 2026.

Regardless, with so many events in the coming months Omega and the challengers that will follow him can be easily lined up from Dynasty through Double or Nothing, Forbidden Door, All In and All Out.

Darby Allin

With Omega’s challenge likely not resulting in a title change, Allin seems to be one of the major challengers for MJF as we head into spring. While Andrade had also already voiced his intentions to challenge MJF, Allin’s proclamation that he was coming after MJF and the world championship signals that Friedman might not get to stray far from his recent return to unbridled violence. Of the people who I think are likely going to be challenging for the title, this match bears the closest resemblance to the type of physicality that is similar yet different enough from what MJF and Page did that their match can stand on its own.

Allin and MJF have met only twice before, and only once in a singles match under the AEW banner. While they have met up in multi-man matches, their last singles match at Full Gear 2021 ended in defeat for Allin. Although I don’t think the result is going to change here, I think the objective has a lot more to do with pushing Max to his limits and losing than it does Allin finding a way to atone for his 2021 loss.

Andrade

While I think Darby Allin is more than due a world title program, a matchup with Andrade is fundamentally different because of his more Lucha-focused background. Just in terms of presentation, where Hangman and Allin pose different physical challenges, neither really blends the speed and athleticism the way Andrade can. Additionally, where I think Page and Allin are definitely quintessential AEW wrestlers, if Andrade is truly committed to the company this time around he can be another major player in the AEW championship landscape.

I don’t think the seeds to an Andrade-MJF feud would have been planted and continually watered if the the objective wasn’t to get them into a program together. If the trajectory on AEW TV follows how it seems to be trending, Allin should be getting his shot soon. Following that, it’s beginning to feel like Andrade is next up since we’re being led to believe that MJF and Don Callis are working closely together and aiming to use Andrade as a hitman of sorts to take out Allin.

It would be foolish to cut Andrade off at the knees at this point because I don’t think he’s been as over as he is right now since his first NXT run. Andrade shirking any connection to Callis for his own benefit dovetails naturally out of refusing to take out Allin. Stylistically, where people like Kenny Omega or Will Ospreay offer their own brand of fast-paced style, neither really has the charisma to match the in-ring work. Just from a character view, where their foundation is “I am awesome at wrestling, watch me be awesome,” I think Andrade and MJF can really do something unique in how MJF is currently being presented in combination with how Andrade is being presented.

Takeshita

Considering how MJF’s interactions with the Don Callis family are seemingly trending, if Andrade were to leave the Family to fight MJF, or as a byproduct of fighting MJF have Callis turn on him, then I think Takeshita can’t be too far behind. His departure has felt like an inevitability for quite some time; in my opinion the writing has been on the wall since Okada joined Callis. So if we were hypothetically looking at Andrade and Takeshita both leaving, adding MJF in their places, then I think a world title program focusing on MJF and Takeshita could be another unique matchup for him.

Whereas Allin did contest the world title at Double or Nothing 2023 in a fatal four way, and Omega is an ex-champion who was formerly the longest reigning world champion, similarly to Andrade Takeshita is a totally unique, first time match up. Takeshita was not among MJF’s 10 successful defences from late 2022 through 2023. That freshness leans into the trend of making this reign distinct from the first one, and further to that, given his background in the Japanese wrestling scene in DDT, his more strong style approach gives MJF another defence that changes the dynamics of how the match is wrestled and put together. It’s also apparent the fans are trending toward Takeshita, so if you totally flip him away from Callis and attempt to wrest the world title from an increasingly villainous MJF, that cements him in a babyface role in AEW. I doubt he actually wins it from MJF, but the objective should be to a) cement MJF as champion and main antagonist, and b) establish Takeshita a part from Don Callis.

Will Ospreay

I think Ospreay’s health is a huge factor in how 2026 plays out, but I think most of what was said about Omega applies to Ospreay.

It would be very, very dim to not run Ospreay against MJF at All In. It’s very telling that Ospreay is unabashedly featured on the promo art for All In, which leads me to believe that is the target. That matters because I think Ospreay — health permitting — is a good bet to maybe take the title off MJF in London at the end of August. Tony Khan has a certain preoccupation with awarding hometown fans with victories by their favoured sons and daughters. That certainly doesn’t mean that 100% Ospreay will be holding the AEW title on August 31st, but there’s a pretty good chance it happens.

This is an easy matchup to set up firstly because they previously feuded for the International title. Secondly, continuing the running theme, Ospreay is also a former Callis associate and member of the Callis family, and if MJF has the slightest association with Callis as it seems to be the case, that’s added motivation on top of competitive spirit and desire to become the greatest because it suddenly becomes very personal for Ospreay. That in turn fuels how his interactions with MJF will go, contrasting Ospreay’s impassioned, aggressive promo tone against MJF’s cocky, arrogant heel nature.

From a pure in-ring style perspective, this could be the all-around best defence of MJF’s second run because there are different things Ospreay can do to complement MJF that others simply can’t. I think if Ospreay in London is the target, then he’s AEW champion heading into All Out.

This is both a matchup that makes sense on paper, and given their previous rivalry, with increased stakes it makes sense to execute this as a potential endgame for MJF.

The “What If?” Scenario

Let’s say MJF gets through each of these challenges, and I think saying all five are going to be among his challengers is fairly safe.  However, if he gets through them, what then? The short answer is who knows. Most of your other options are injured, and I’m not sure we need to see Moxley vs. MJF again.

Adam Cole is still recovering from his concussion. Samoa Joe is out as well, and Jay White has been out with injuries since last spring. You can surely recycle some of the above, throw in Mark Briscoe, Bandido and maybe Brody King again, but past them all you really have is Swerve Strickland and I’m not sure how well that works in practice given that MJF is back to being an arrogant, smarmy heel, and Swerve has resumed being his hard-nosed, remorseless psychopathic self. I’m not saying it can’t work, but I think it’s a tougher sell that if you can pull it off, then it’s worthwhile in the latter part of the year.

Once we get passed that though, barring a return to singles action for Adam Copeland or a major signing, we’re realistically back to Page and aiming to craft a workaround for that. I think a double or nothing gambling scenario could work where Page puts up his career against the championship for one last try to reclaim gold and defeat MJF. I think that’s a good way around the stipulation that doesn’t require a heel turn to execute. Should we get to a point where there are no challengers left, this has to be a realistic consideration. Much like the sensibility of booking Ospreay to win in London, something like this scenario –regardless of the stipulation– makes sense for the people involved, the canon of the shows to establish continuity, and above all paying off plotlines for bigger revelations later on.