Every AEW World Champion So Far, Ranked From Worst To Best

Posted by Abbie Anker on Tuesday, May 21, 2024

All Elite Wrestling emerged in 2019, and despite its short history, it is already one of the biggest wrestling promotions in the world. From day one AEW had very talented stars on its roster, and as time went by, they signed huge superstars coming from every corner of the planet.

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Chris Jericho was the first AEW World Champion, while Japan's Riho was the inaugural Women's World Champion. Since then, each title has had three more titleholders, some were tremendous champions, while others didn't make as big an impact, to say the least. With that said, let's take a look at every AEW World Champion so far, ranked from worst to best.

8 Nyla Rose

On the February 12, 2020, episode of Dynamite, Nyla Rose defeated Riho in an amazing match to become AEW Women's World Champion. Rose only had one successful defense, against Kris Statlander at Revolution 2020.

Nyla Rose dropped the title to Hikaru Shida on May 23, 2020, at Double or Nothing. It was a phenomenal No Disqualification match, and Rose had an excellent performance, looking great despite being defeated. Nyla Rose's reign was no big deal, it lasted 101 days, and she wasn't booked properly.

7 Riho

On the debut episode of Dynamite, Riho defeated Nyla Rose to become the first AEW Women's World Champion. Frankly, Riho does not look like a World Champion, as she is very small and thin. Also, she can't cut solid promos because she doesn't speak English very well, and we all know the importance of a champion's mic skills.

Nevertheless, within the ropes Riho was an excellent champion, as her in-ring skills are outstanding, and she put on a good show in each of her five championship defenses. Riho’s best moment was when she managed to prevail against Britt Baker, Hikaru Shida and Nyla Rose on the January 1, 2020, episode of Dynamite.

6 Chris Jericho

Chris Jericho won the AEW World Championship at All Out 2019 after defeating Adam Page. Jericho was given the responsibility of being the first champion, who carried the company for the first few months, and overall, he did a good job, attracting a lot of fans to AEW.

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Chris Jericho had three solid successful defenses, especially his match against Cody at Full Gear 2019, which was memorable. Certainly, Jericho's best years are long gone, but he still showed he’s still got it and was an acceptable champion for six months.

5 Dr. Britt Baker DMD

Britt Baker has been AEW Women's World Champion for over 250 days and counting. Overall, she has been a great champion, especially due to her promo and character work, which is precisely why Baker is one of the most popular female wrestlers on the planet. Every time Britt is on TV, it’s something that you must watch.

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However, her in-ring work has been sloppy at times. Also, in recent weeks her reign has been boring and fans already want a title change, which could happen at Revolution 2022, when Baker puts the title on the line against Thunder Rosa.

4 Adam Page

At Full Gear 2021, "Hangman" Adam Page dethroned Kenny Omega and earned his well-deserved World Championship victory. Since then, Page has not had an easy road, as he has defended the belt three times, two classics against Bryan Danielson and an absolutely brutal Texas Death match against Lance Archer.

Adam Page is now over 100 days as World Champion, and he has done an excellent job. Now, Hangman is shaping up to defend the title against Adam Cole at Revolution 2022, a match that looks amazing on paper.

3 Hikaru Shida

Hikaru Shida had the longest Women's World Championship reign in AEW history, holding the title for 372 days. Shida successfully defended the title eight times, drawing an excellent match from pretty much all of her challengers, including Penelope Ford, Thunder Rosa, Ryo Mizunami, Nyla Rose and Tay Conti.

Hikaru Shida lost the title against Britt Baker at Double or Nothing 2021. It is no wonder Shida was an excellent champion, as she is arguably the best female wrestler in AEW, and she always put on a great show.

2 Jon Moxley

Jon Moxley was a fantastic champion; he had an amazing run in which he established himself as one of the biggest superstars in the world. Moxley earned the love and admiration of thousands of people, delivering brutal matches and putting his body on the line every single month.

Moxley successfully defended the title nine times, including some top-notch matches against MJF, Eddie Kingston, Darby Allin and Brodie Lee. This 277-day reign was memorable from start to finish, arguably the best title reign of Jon Moxley’s career.

1 Kenny Omega

The best AEW World Champion so far has to be Kenny Omega. In the main event of the December 12, 2020, episode of Dynamite, Kenny Omega defeated Jon Moxley to become World Champion.

Kenny Omega is called “The Best Bout Machine” for a reason, and each of his title defenses were phenomenal, specially versus Rey Fenix and against Orange Cassidy and PAC, which are among the best matches in the company’s history. Plus, Omega’s character work was awesome, and he gave prestige to the AEW World Championship. Thanks to Kenny Omega, people from every corner of the world became fans of AEW.

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