AEW Reportedly Changed up Its Plans for the AEW World Championship

All Elite Wrestling’s plans for its top championship have reportedly undergone a shake-up, according to the latest report from Wrestling Observer‘s Dave Metlzer. This week’s AEW Dynamite saw the announcement that reigning AEW World Champion Jon Moxley will face Kenny Omega on the Dec. 2 edition of Dynamite. However, Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio that Lance Archer was supposed to get the next shot. “The Muderhawk Monster” lost in his first attempt at dethroning Moxley back in October, but the commentary team put him over as “waiting in the wings” as the next world championship challenger during Saturday’s Full Gear pay-per-view.

Archer did not compete on Saturday’s show, opting instead for a video promo with Jake “The Snake” Roberts. Meltzer couldn’t say whether or not the title match had been postponed or simply forgotten about.

The timing of Moxley vs. Omega is quite interesting in and of itself. The match will go head-to-head with what is (reportedly) the go-home show for NXT’s final TakeOver of the year. Many assumed the match would main event AEW’s next pay-per-view, but since that isn’t until late February it’s possible the company didn’t want to wait around that long for a match this big.

There’s also the matter of Moxley’s work with New Japan Pro-Wrestling. He’s still the company’s IWGP United States Champion but hasn’t been able to either a) travel overseas due to COVID-19 restrictions or b) appear on New Japan’s US-based programming due to restrictions in his contract. If he were to drop the title on Dec. 2, he’d still have enough time to fly over to Japan and be in quarantine for two weeks before Wrestle Kingdom 15 on Jan. 4-5, 2021. He’s not officially booked for the show, but he already has a challenger lined up in No. 1 contender Kenta.

As of now, Moxley’s reign as world champion has eclipsed 250 days. This makes him the longest-reigning champion in AEW’s young history.