3 Top Stars Who Will Never Be AEW World Champion Again

Over the years, AEW has seen some of the biggest pro-wrestling stars become the promotion's front runners by winning its top prize, the AEW World Championship. Nine different wrestlers have held the title over the past six years.

These names include Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega, Hangman Page, Swerve Strickland, MJF, Jon Moxley, CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, and reigning champion Samoa Joe. While many of these wrestlers helped boost the belt's prestige through their established status in the wrestling industry, a few, like MJF, elevated their own status as main-event players by winning it.

Nevertheless, the promotion's World Title has solidified itself as one of the top prizes in wrestling. It continues to attract former champions and new contenders who compete for a chance to hold it. That said, some names from the list of former champions may never win the Jacksonville-based promotion's top prize again. In this listicle, we look at three of those names who will never be AEW World Champions again.

#3. CM Punk will never be AEW World Champion again

CM Punk's return to pro wrestling in 2021 was one of the biggest comebacks in wrestling at the time. The Second City Saint decided to join All Elite Wrestling, making his exciting debut at Rampage in August of that year. The idea of Punk, already a megastar, working with all the young emerging talent AEW had to offer, was an exciting prospect for fans alike. However, his time in Tony Khan's promotion did not go as expected.

The self-proclaimed "Best In The World" spent just under two years with the Jacksonville-based promotion, during which he held multiple AEW World Championship reigns and led one of the best feuds with MJF in his first year. However, the rest of Punk's tenure was marked by controversies, with one of them leading to his eventual firing from the company in 2023, post All In.

Although pro wrestling is considered a funny business, given how he left the promotion, the Second City Saint won't be coming back anytime soon, if ever, let alone be its World Champion.

#2. Chris Jericho

Chris Jericho is widely recognized as the star who put AEW on the map. The Nueve, who has achieved legendary status in pro wrestling, served as the promotion's inaugural World Champion and held it for over six months before dropping it to Jon Moxley. Y2J never managed to regain the World Title after that, and it doesn't seem like he'll be winning it ever again.

At 55, the veteran is past his prime, and his in-ring career is winding down. At this stage, it’s unlikely Tony Khan would put his promotion's top prize on his shoulders again. Additionally, Jericho is currently on an unexplained hiatus from AEW that started in April of this year. With his contract ending this month and rumors about a return to WWE circulating, by 2026 Jericho might not even be All Elite, much less become the World Champion again.

#1. Kenny Omega

As one of its founding members, Kenny Omega is an important figure in All Elite Wrestling's history. The Cleaner became AEW World Champion in December 2020 and held the title for 346 days, making it the second-longest reign in the promotion's history. Although he never won the title again after that, it was long expected that he would regain it at some point in his career. However, his recent activity in AEW has all but closed that door.

Ever since his Diverticulitis diagnosis in late 2023, the Best Bout Machine has been wrestling in limited capacity in Tony Khan's promotion. He even mentioned in a recent interview that his in-ring days are numbered, and even fans believe that he is fast approaching retirement. As of today, Omega remains an active competitor on the roster, but it seems like Tony Khan plans to use Omega mainly as a tag team wrestler following his reunion with the Young Bucks.