Now the AEW World Champion, Jon Moxley looks poised for a lengthy reign at the top. Here are five challengers for Mox.
With Jon Moxley’s recent win over Le Champion, Chris Jericho, he’ll no doubt face an onslaught of competitors hungry for AEW’s top prize. With some of the best young talent in the world (and Jack Hager for…some reason) AEW has a real opportunity to shine a light on the criminally underutilized talent of Moxley and several other wrestlers on the roster.
Here are some potential challengers that could bring the most return on entertainment value for their investment in the Cincinnati native.
Maxwell Jacob Friedman
Most recently, the perennial smug heel, MJF has come off of wins over Adam Page for the AEW Dynamite Diamond Ring in November of 2019, and a win against legends Diamond Dallas Page, Dustin Rhodes, and QT Marshall with The Butcher & The Blade. What makes a great heel like Friedman work, is you want to see someone knock that smirk off his face, and who better than the AEW World Champion, Jon Moxley?
Moxley is known far and wide for his brutality, the levels of violence he’s capable of reaching when pushed hard enough. MJF would be the perfect opponent to play mind games against Moxley. This feud needn’t feature any action in the ring, tease the audience with a medium-length build, with Jon never quite getting his hands on Maxwell.
The question is if Friedman poked the Moxley bear enough in the name of having an upper hand against the champion in a match, would he have the fortitude to deal with the undoubtedly violent consequences his antagonistic actions would have wrought?
Should Friedman come out on top and as the 3rd AEW World Champion, this would create some great heat between Friedman and The Inner Circle’s leader, Chris Jericho. The tension between the two would be palpable before Jericho would inevitably turn on the scarfed wrestler.
With Chris Jericho being a legendary top-tier heel – this feud following a victory for Friedman could help him come into his own as a heel, and as a wrestler that belongs at the top of the card.
Additionally, a victory for Friedman would add a new level to the bitter rivalry between his former best friend, Cody. AEW fans will remember that due to Cody’s loss against Chris Jericho at AEW Full Gear with Friedman’s assistance that he’s unable to challenge for the AEW World Championship. Imagine your best friend not only betraying your trust but taking the thing you treasure most.
PAC
That bastard, Pac has left bad gimmicks behind to remerge on the independent scene shortly before signing with AEW. His time in AEW has been spent being perplexed and suplexed by the likes of Orange Cassidy, but he has had the AEW World Championship within his grasp.
He competed in the inaugural tournament to decide the #1 Contender for the AEW World Championship in January of this year, beating Darby Allen in the semifinals but losing to none other than Jon Moxley in the finals. Has Pac been stewing over that loss, letting that anger build up inside him? Would that drive him to do better the next time these two do battle? Time could tell.
Pac presents an interesting challenge for the dangerously maniacal Moxley. Both men are willing to take extraordinary risks. Pac is not only a gifted striker but a talented high-flyer. Moxley’s offense is rooted in a smashmouth, brawl style, how would he defend against the shotgun like kicks of Pac? How would Moxley fair against Pac’s aerial assaults? While Moxley stands alone, Pac has a deadly alliance with The Lucha Brothers to back him up now, shifting the odds in his favor.
The only way to find out is for these two to meet-up
Pac and Jon both came up originally through the WWE Developmental System, but Moxley at least had a chance at the top of the card in WWE. An interesting story could be told about Pac calling out Moxley as a fraud, deriding the fans for believing his various sob stories. A ladder match between these two could be filled with creative, death-defying moments that could help define the history of AEW moving forward.
Christopher Daniels
With Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky having won the AEW World Tag Team Championships, SoCal Uncensored has captured one out of the three championships available in All Elite Wrestling. Could SCU be pining for a monopoly over the gold in All Elite Wrestling’s men’s division?
Christopher Daniels has captured championships in Ring of Honor, TNA, the National Wrestling Alliance and in promotions that span the globe. Daniels’ experience makes him a natural opponent for the current AEW World Champion. While Daniels is a veteran compared to Moxley, would that experience work to his advantage or would age be detrimental to “The Fallen Angel”?
Daniels and Moxley have never faced one another. A match between these two is fantasy warfare come true, as wrestlers from different promotions come together in the squared circle.
Additionally, Christopher Daniels is no stranger to mind games, but would he be able to roll the machinations of Moxley off his back? Would Jon fall victim to Christopher’s own machiavellian schemes, as Daniels would no doubt be aided by his SCU brothers? All Elite Wrestling contains a faction-heavy roster, but Jon Moxley is an island unto himself. He’ll need to work that much harder to navigate the obstacles that the numbers game presents.
Brodie Lee
By far the biggest stretch on this list goes to the former Wyatt Family member/Bludgeon Brother, Brodie Lee. Known as a man of few words in the WWE, Lee spent most of his years with the company as a towering, silent and powerful force under the thrall of Bray Wyatt under the name Luke Harper.
Lee had wanted his release for some time and was granted the release on December 8th, 2019. That pesky no-compete clause is up this month, though.
Lee has the potential to be brought in as some gargantuan neanderthal who can stand against whatever brutality Jon Moxley throws his way in the name of defending the AEW World Championship. Let’s see the desperate lengths that Moxley is willing to go to defend the championship against a force that seemingly doesn’t’ budge.
Even with his size advantage, Lee isn’t a stranger to taking risks and moves like a locomotive barreling its way down the track. While Lee had success on the independent scene, what could he do given not only a bigger stage but free of the shackles of WWE? Could AEW be where Brodie Lee breaks out and has some of the best stories of his career?
Matt Hardy
After AEW’s latest tease, and with The Young Bucks appearing on Matt Hardy’s latest episode of “Free The Delete” rumors are circulating that Matt Hardy could be, or already has signed with All Elite Wrestling. In another of his videos, Matt talked about how he felt that he had more to give back to the world of professional wrestling, and desired more creative input over the direction of his character.
In a twist of fate, could All Elite Wrestling have offered Matt Hardy the chance for a swan song on his own terms?
While this could be difficult to navigate, with TNA and WWE having tried to stake claims on Matt’s eccentric “Broken”/”Woken” character, it wouldn’t be impossible. Who’s to say that Matt couldn’t debut in AEW with an equally unique, newly named, threatening character to challenge Jon Moxley’s reign?
While Moxley rides high on the lunatic fringe, would he be able to handle the challenge that could await him beyond the ring at The Hardy Compound? Barring a bizarre character evolution, Matt has still proven himself as a wrestler willing to repeatedly put his body on the line in his efforts to accomplish greatness, could he still do that in 2020 if it meant capturing the AEW World Championship?