Welcome to another eWrestlingNews Question of the Day! On AEW Dynamite 250, MJF just barely beat out the 60 minute time limit in his match against Will Ospreay and managed to win the AEW International Championship with just two seconds left on the clock. He cheated to do so, using his Dynamite Diamond Ring to give himself an unlawful advantage, but he’s the new champion nevertheless.
My question for you today is “Who should defeated MJF and be the next AEW international champion? How and when would you book that to happen?”
Yes, the title just changed hands, but looking as far ahead into the future as we can get is part of the fun in seeing just how our predictions were dead on right or dead wrong.
Remember to answer with your response in the comments below.
A lot of people will immediately go to Will Ospreay winning the title back. I’m not going in that direction. While I understand it and wouldn’t be opposed to it, I think Ospreay is already past the level of this midcard title. That’s not to say MJF isn’t, but if MJF isn’t going to be challenging (let alone winning) the AEW World Championship any time soon, this will give him something else to do in the meantime. I’d rather Ospreay be the guy who beats the guy who beats Swerve Strickland (aka, I’m imagining Ospreay beating Hangman Adam Page some time in 2025)
There are a handful of names I could see making sense here. For the sake of honorable mentions, I’d entertain names like Adam Copeland (though he’s already had the TNT title run), Bryan Danielson (does he even want to win a belt, though?), Orange Cassidy (a staple of this title), Samoa Joe (he’s just great) and Wardlow (even though that feud seems to be over)
But in my mind, it really boils down to only two options—one currently in the company, and another who isn’t even signed yet—Daniel Garcia or Ricochet.
When it comes to Ricochet, there’s an extra level of pure speculation given how he’s not even on the official roster. He hasn’t yet made a single appearance for AEW. However, we all know he’s more than likely going there, and then, he’ll be a shiny new toy that Tony Khan will be tempted to put a title on.
Ricochet’s strength has always been his high-flying maneuvers, rather than his promos. But MJF can sell the feud by himself. They’d probably work very well together between the ropes and a win for Ricochet over someone as important as MJF would do him wonders. Yes, at the end of the day, he’d still be winning a midcard title instead of a world championship, but even the biggest Ricochet fans have to come to terms with how going to AEW is far from a guarantee to level up to a new tier of the hierarchy. At this point, most WWE Superstars that go to All Elite Wrestling stay roughly at the same position on the totem pole that they were before. Look at Malakai Black, Miro, Keith Lee, PAC, etc.
But Ricochet has to not only get signed first, he also has to be feuding with MJF, while he’s holding the belt, and be in a position to actually win this title. That’s a lot to ask for. So while it would be very nearly my top personal pick to go with him, I’ll have to put him narrowly in the runner-up spot, at least as far as the prediction side goes.
Daniel Garcia, on the other hand, is just the softball, easy answer. MJF doesn’t need a long title reign by any means, and much of this started with Ospreay, MJF and Garcia in a three-way storyline. While Garcia failed to win the title from Ospreay, he put up a valiant effort and was beaten down by MJF after the match. Eventually, Garcia is going to come back seeking vengeance, and won’t have any bone to pick with Ospreay, so his focus should be entirely on MJF both for revenge and for going after that title.
Time and time again, Garcia is given a push, starts to be taken seriously, works his way toward a championship, becomes a sympathetic star to cheer on, and fails. Eventually, he’s going to have to actually win some gold. Otherwise, there will come a time when fans stop caring about that tease and just assume he’ll fall short of his goal, only to not care or even be outright annoyed when he randomly wins a title just for the sake of it, questioning why he couldn’t have won any of the other times.
It’s unclear how long he’ll be out of action. Maybe he’s already back and gunning for MJF by the time we reach All In. If not, All Out could be another option. But sooner, rather than later, I’d like to see Garcia actually succeed and win a title. Now, with MJF facing him in the opposite corner, would be as good a time as any.
What do you think? Drop your thoughts below!