AEW should meet the moment and crown Brody King

Brody King shocked the world Wednesday night.

King squashed AEW world champion MJF in 1:17 to earn himself a championship match at Grand Slam Australia on Feb. 14. The moment capped off a great episode of Dynamite, and it gained mainstream attention when the fans at the Pearl Theater chanted, "Fuck ICE," before the match. Referee Bryce Remsburg confirmed on social media that he laid out to let the moment breathe before ringing the bell.

The video went viral on social media and non-wrestling outlets reported on it. Non-wrestling fans learned that King wore an "Abolish ICE" shirt at Grand Slam Mexico and that he's donated money to help victims of ICE and immigrant communities.

King and MJF smartly are using the mainstream attention to promote their match next Saturday, but I think it's up to Tony Khan to capitalize on the moment by making King AEW world champion.

My friend Jesse Collings and Sarah from the Trish and Sarah Wrestling podcast discussed the decline of the "rocketpack push." In that discussion, they pointed out how stubborn Khan can be with his booking and how he sticks to his ideas, which sometimes come at the detriment of AEW.

It seemed like he shifted plans when Hangman Page started to gain steam. Darby Allin seemed like the guy to end Jon Moxley's title reign, but Khan knew Page was the man fans wanted and that waiting for Allin to ascend Mount Everest would be too long. Page's title win at All In Texas was a feel-good moment and seemed to turn around the vibes for AEW. If Khan can change his mind once, fans know he can do it again.

Now, King is 38 years old, and he's been with AEW since 2022. However, he hasn't really received a serious singles push during his AEW run, and crowning him champion next Saturday would grant him a lot of legitimacy. He doesn't even need to have a long title run. He could be a transitional champion for someone like Andrade. The point for Khan is that a King title run doesn't mean you have to throw away all your booking plans.

Will the people who watched the "Fuck ICE" clip go on to watch Grand Slam Australia? We don't really know, to be honest. But what if they do? What if they choose to tune in to see this guy, who suddenly became AEW's representative for the Abolish ICE movement? Should we not retain those fans by making that hardcore metalhead the top champion of your promotion?

AEW is part of a sea of content, and all it took was one moment to get them part of the mainstream. If a King world title run can provide even a slight boost to business, it's a moment Khan should not miss just for the illusion of safety.

Thanks for reading all the way to the end! At the end of every post, I like to recommend a K-pop song, since there aren't many places for me to do that. For this post, I'm recommending Confetti by MISAMO.