You’ve probably heard by now that on this week’s AEW Dynamite, the AEW World Championship had to be vacated for … reasons. While a popular suggestion among fans on social media was to have a massive tournament to crown a new champ (as in 32 wrestlers, or basically every non-suspended male talent on the roster), AEW opted for something in that vein but not quite as ambitious.
The result was the Grand Slam Tournament of Champions, a six-man tourney featuring the bracket you can see above. As for the “Champions” part, everyone who made the cut was either a former world champion or TNT Champion. That means there are mostly obvious choices, along with some enduring fan favorites like Darby Allin.
Going with a smaller bracket means the matches could get underway immediately, which they did, with Bryan Danielson defeating Hangman Adam Page. As well, this means the tournament can wrap up by AEW Dynamite Grand Slam at Arthur Ashe Stadium, giving that special episode a worthy main event on Sept. 21.
The only downside is that it doesn’t give us much time for analysis, so let’s jump right into it by looking at the pros and cons of each remaining wrestler becoming the next AEW World Champion.
Chris Jericho
Pros: Jericho has proven once again that no one in the business is as good at reinventing himself, as he’s successfully turned back the clock as much as possible to his Lionheart days while still carrying the banner for sports entertainment vs. pro wrestling. Could anyone else pull that off? He’s been lauded behind the scenes for being a true locker room leader during the firestorm that’s swirled around the company this week, and if AEW wanted to give him one more run as world champion, maybe this is the time.
Cons: A number of reporters and observers have praised AEW for doing the best it could under trying circumstances to reset the scene, and Dynamite did have a sense that things were pushing forward. Giving Jericho the world title doesn’t really fit that vibe, as it’s more of a step back into the past. Also, assuming MJF is waiting for the tournament winner, it doesn’t make much sense to have two heels feuding, though they do of course have plenty of history upon which to draw.
Bryan Danielson
Pros: Well, he’s Bryan Danielson for starters, one of the best pro wrestlers on the planet and thus worth considering as a world champ at any time. He’s perpetually over, and it’s hard to imagine too many fans would quibble if he was given the belt. He also has the “good soldier” feel about him lately of doing whatever he’s asked to do, including a loss to Daniel Garcia (though there’s no shame in that since Garcia is a tremendous young talent). A Danielson-MJF program would also be highly entertaining as their personalities contrast in fun ways.
Cons: There aren’t many, but there is this: If Danielson wins when Blackpool Combat Club teammate Jon Moxley has held and/or been around the world championship so much, would that mean internal conflict in the group? The BCC is very popular and fans don’t seem like they’d be ready for that just yet.
Sammy Guevara
Pros: Insanely gifted and willing to take just about any bump, it still feels like Guevara has barely scratched the surface of what he could become. Letting him run with the championship would be a clear signal that AEW is turning the page on what’s just gone down and embracing something new and different.
Cons: Where do we start? Guevara is naturally divisive among AEW fans and has been a heat magnet since he and now-wife Tay Melo became an on-screen couple. Normally that would make for great heel champion possibilities … except the challenger waiting in the wings is the company’s biggest heel, and it’s hard to imagine AEW could turn Guevara face just by putting the title on him. On top of that, if Jericho is annoyed and/or jealous of Garcia’s success, just imagine how he’d have to be positioned if someone else in the Jericho Appreciation Society was AEW World Champion.
Darby Allin
Pros: Much of the same logic for Guevara applies to Allin as well, in that a world title run would be a stake in the ground for pushing someone new. Certainly, in terms of putting his body on the line to entertain fans, he has few peers. And just seeing Darby with the world title would infuriate MJF, so a feud between the two afterward could be a lot of fun.
Cons: Despite the crowd reactions he always gets, Allin definitely isn’t as universally beloved among the perpetually online part of AEW fandom; one gets the feeling he’d be argued about as a deserving world champ more than any of the other four, for what it’s worth.
Jon Moxley
Pros: Moxley’s promo on Dynamite this week was inspiring to all but the most cynical of viewers, as he proved again he’s really the heart and soul of AEW. He’s more than willing and capable of having great matches with pretty much anyone, and he’s already had some friction with MJF after exposing his brief nice guy shtick as a charade and more or less kicking him out of the ring in Buffalo.
Cons: Like Danielson, it would be hard to nitpick giving Moxley the title again, except in the sense that he just had it and lost it to Punk. If putting the belt back on him is the endgame, Tony Khan could have just given it to him as the last person to hold it, and it runs the risk of making the Grand Slam Tournament of Champions feel like a waste of time.