MJF Retains at AEW Winter is Coming, Gets His Next Challenger

12/14/2022 10:18 pm EST

MJF retained both the AEW World Championship and Dynamite Diamond Ring at AEW Winter is Coming on Wednesday night, defeating Ricky Starks. Friedman repeatedly attempted to cheat throughout the match and eventually kicked Starks in the groin while the referee's back was turned and rolled him up for the three count. But Max's victory celebration was short-lived as he was confronted on the entrance ramp by Bryan Danielson, who immediately chased him into the crowd. Danielson had been off TV ever since Friedman nailed William Regal in the back of the head with a set of brass knuckles with commentary claiming he was at Regal's bedside in the hospital (in reality, he was written off TV as he's heading back to WWE). 

An AEW World Championship match between MJF and Danielson could very well be the main event of the Revolution pay-per-view, but given that's not until March it's possible we'll see "The American Dragon" take on "The Salt of the Earth" on another Dynamite special. Stay tuned for more updates!

Danielson has been in AEW since the All Out 2021 pay-per-view and has since repeatedly come up short in trying to win AEW's top prize. But he has also openly admitted in interviews that it's not his goal to become the top star in the young promotion. 

"For me, it's not about being the top guy," Danielson told Sports Illustrated in September. "I don't care about that. And it's not about leading the locker room. You can be a leader without the title. I like the feeling of big championship matches. Championship matches are my favorite kind of matches to wrestle. It's a different feeling from anything else."

"This is an opportunity to create more excitement," he later added. "I'm pretty pumped about the title tournament. It just lends gravity to all these matches. I'm really excited."

But Danielson also didn't shut down the idea of becoming world champion again in that same interview — "I want to be world champion, because being in championship matches is unlike anything else. Those matches, they've got a different tension. I love the feeling of a big title match. Those are the feelings and emotions I'm chasing."