Heading into Double or Nothing, MJF had held the AEW World Championship for 191 days, already good for the fourth-longest reign in the promotion's four-and-a-half-year history. Though he'd only defended the title twice to that point, one less than Jon Moxley during his last 59-day reign, the ā€œSalt of the Earth'sā€ reign of terror had been filled with self-incriminating promos, memorable matches ā€“ by other people ā€“ and ultimately five-star Pay-Per-View matches that proved he's one of the best wrestlers in the world today, even if he doesn't particularly enjoy wrestling for the fun of it.

So naturally, few expected to see MJF drop the strap to any of the other Four Pillars of AEW at Double or Nothing, so much so that the match didn't even headline the show, but in professional wrestling, sometimes the outcome isn't what's important but instead how you get there, and this match features so many turns and double turns, including the news that Sammy Guevara was going to be a father, that it still produced a five-star outcome regardless of the steps it took along the way.

Wrestling a match that featured shout-outs to the past and hints at the future, MJF tried again to get Sammy Guevara to lay down for him, suggesting that the soon-to-be father could use the money to help support his growing family with Tay Melo, but in the end, ā€œThe Spanish Godā€ did not oblige, instead trying to roll up his foe for the 1-2-3. While MJF didn't get his easy win, that didn't mean he was down and out in Las Vegas, as he was still able to out-wrestle his opponents, including a spot where he missed Jack Perry with the belt, and then ā€œJungleboyā€ decided against hitting Darby Allin for the easy win, but in the end, MJF scored the pin via a Side Headlock Takeover on Allin for the 1-2-3.

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Samoa Joe with a text bubble reading ā€œItā€™s just silly semanticsā€holding the AEW Wolrd Champonship with the AEW logo as the background.

Matty Breisch Ā·

John Cena next to the blacked-out silhouette of MJF with the The Iron Claw poster as the background.

Matty Breisch Ā·

WWE star John Cena and AEW star MJF on red carpet.

Andrew Korpan Ā·

For a match this long, and this rich, attempting to summarize the proceedings would be foolish, as even 1,000 words wouldn't do it justice. In the end, all that matters is MJF secured the win, and he really is better than you, and you know it.