Rare Televised AEW World Title Match Happening on AEW Collision This Week

All Elite Wrestling's top prize has been heavily protected since it was first introduced back at the company's inaugural event, AEW Double or Nothing 2019. The AEW World Championship has been contested for 39 times in its four-year history, and the bulk of those bouts have come on pay-per-view. Inaugural champion Chris Jericho and longest-reigning champion Kenny Omega both defended the championship just twice on television while second champion Jon Moxley put it up for grabs on AEW Dynamite on seven occasions. Since winning the strap in November 2022, current AEW World Champion Maxwell Jacob Friedman has defended his title just once on AEW television.

The rest of this article contains minor spoilers for AEW Collision.

That is set to change this weekend. AEW taped this Saturday's episode of AEW Collision earlier this week, which is set to feature MJF's AEW Collision in-ring debut. This began as a squash match with Friedman making quick work of Kip Morris. He then took to the microphone to blast the fans in attendance before Ethan Page interrupted. It's worth noting that Page was said to have cut a babyface promo, which would make this the first time that he has operated as a fan favorite since joining AEW. This led to a title match between the two.

MJF vs. Ethan Page may just be an impromptu bout on AEW Collision this week, but this matchup is actually one with deep-rooted history. These two had a blood feud at Page's Alpha-1 Wrestling promotion in Canada back in 2019, which ultimately culminated in a Dog Collar Match.

These foes became friends briefly in AEW last summer. MJF assembled a faction on retainer known as The Firm which included Page  and another longtime confidant in Stokely Hathaway among the ranks.

"I have known Max probably since his first week in professional wrestling. He used to work for me in Canada [at Alpha-1]," Page told ComicBook.com last fall. "Stokely was actually his manager at Alpha-1 Wrestling. The three of us have had a relationship together forever. We have natural chemistry. We're all actually friends. For us to be working together on a national and global stage like All Elite Wrestling, to be put in a position like this is incredible."

AEW Collision goes down this Saturday at 8 PM ET on TNT.