Next Wednesday, All Elite Wrestling fans will witness for the third time a World Championship match with a very risky stipulation: if the challenger is defeated, they can never compete for the top title again. The stipulation, first used by Cody Rhodes and Chris Jericho in 2019, has returned in 2026 with MJF as the World Champion.
"The Devil" defeated "Hangman" Adam Page at AEW Revolution in what was the latter's last televised appearance. The stipulation, on the other hand, was proposed by Page himself, as revealed by Tony Khan in a recent interview with Case Lowe on Q101.
"It was something he brought up himself", said the AEW president. "In that case, knowing what we were doing, I thought it made a lot of sense for the moment we were in and because quite some time had passed. We were a very new company, with fewer stars and less TV time when Cody asked me for that, and it was a very significant change. It was also a significant change when Hangman asked me for it, but there were many positives and I understood that it helped increase the sense of unpredictability".
"However, it represents a huge risk and, in both cases, it was the wrestlers themselves who proposed it to me. I had certain reservations, although they were different in each situation and the company was in a different moment each time. In the end, all of it contributed to making a highly important world championship match more unpredictable," he stated.
MJF will defend the company's World Championship against Kenny Omega this week on AEW Dynamite: Beach Break. The match will take place a few weeks before the AEW Redemption PPV, where the title is expected to be on the line again. Meanwhile, Will Ospreay awaits as a challenger at AEW All In London, where many hope to see him crowned on the biggest stage possible.
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