Steve Carrier on April 16, 2026
Darby Allin’s AEW World Title win led to a ton of backlash—but now there’s a clear reason behind the decision to make him champion.
After Allin beat MJF in the main event of Dynamite Spring BreakThru on April 15, a lot of the reaction online wasn’t about the title change itself. Instead, fans zeroed in on how fast MJF went down, with plenty of people arguing the finish made one of AEW’s top names look far too easy to beat. Now, that title switch is starting to make a lot more sense.
According to sports journalist Blake Avignon, the decision had less to do with hurting MJF and more to do with the fact that he’s about to be away filming a movie: “MJF’s scheduled to be on set for a movie. So it’s not a burial.”
That explains why AEW went ahead and put the belt on Darby when it did. If MJF is heading off for a film project, the company needed someone in place to carry the championship scene—and Darby got the spot.
Fans may still hate the way it played out, especially with how dominant MJF had looked before that match, but the bigger picture now seems obvious. This wasn’t about burying MJF. It was about getting the title off him before Hollywood pulled him away from AEW TV. Whether fans buy that explanation is a different story, because the backlash over how quickly MJF lost isn’t going away anytime soon.
Does this reason make AEW’s decision easier to understand, or do you still think MJF should’ve lost the title in a completely different way? Drop your thoughts below.
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