After successfully beating Chris Jericho for the AEW World Championship, Jon Moxley is now set to face a new, much more threatening opponent in the form of Jake Hager. The former Jack Swagger of the WWE debuted for AEW on their inaugural Dynamite show last year and instantly made an impact by joining Jericho's Inner Circle faction.
Although Hager debuted for AEW in 2019, he did not have his first match until February of this year at the Revolution PPV against Dustin Rhodes. Moxley, on the other hand, has been heavily featured in AEW from the start and was just crowned champion at that same Revolution event. Given how early it is in his championship run, it looks unlikely that Moxley would lose the belt in his first ever title defense. Hager has the potential to be a terrifying monster of a character, towering over the majority of the AEW roster. He's been protected from looking weak for much of his run in AEW by appearing in very few matches, but because of that he still hasn't been able to establish himself as the monster heel that he could eventually become. For Hager, a loss to Jon Moxley at this point in his AEW career could potentially derail his threatening persona.
The feud started back when Hager and the Inner Circle attacked Moxley and powerbombed him near the entrance area. When Moxley returned from injury, he immediately went after Hager. The attack didn't work out how Moxley envisioned, as a monstrous Hager shot right back up after being hit with a paradigm shift and promptly attempted to put an ankle lock on the champion. Both men were protected, as they ended the segment still on their feet, but come their title match, only one man can be left standing. Unless there's a DQ finish, one of them will be guaranteed to look weak.
Moxley will be a heavy favorite to retain, not only because it would be too early for Moxley to lose the belt, but also because it would be way too early for Hager to become champion. Hager definitely has the qualities to be a future champion. But, losing a major match before he can be properly built up as the company's monster heel would be a huge mistake that could hurt Hager immeasurably. Hager was part of a well booked squash match recently on an episode of AEW Dark. Now he needs to go on an extended winning streak on Dynamite as well before being booked into the championship picture.
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Waiting to book Hager into the same championship match until AFTER he could be built into the most dangerous foe in All Elite Wrestling would not only be more beneficial for Hager. It would benefit Moxley as well, who would come out looking like a far stronger champion for beating a more dangerous Hager than he would by beating him now. With the way things are at present, the AEW championship defense looks less important than many of the other feuds taking place on Dynamite. Hager isn't ready to take his first defeat, neither is he ready for his first world championship match in AEW. But with the date of their match still unannounced, AEW still has an opportunity to right their wrong and begin booking Hager more strongly in the lead up to their clash. That would not just mean giving him more squash matches against jobbers, but also dominant victories against more established mid-carders. If AEW can't figure out just the right way to build Hager for this match, it could set his career back for a long, long time to come.