The alternative timeline nobody asked for

Let’s be honest with ourselves for a second. We spend way too much time in these wrestling bubbles wondering what happens if the finish was reversed. Last year at AEW Dynasty, there was a loud contingent of people who thought Chris Jericho should have walked out with the Ring of Honor World Championship after a grueling scrap with Bandido.

Think about the state of the product back in April 2025. AEW was already struggling to find a lane for their secondary titles. Giving the ROH belt to a guy who already eats up half the oxygen in the room would have been booking malpractice, even if it feels good to keep the shiny gold on a legend.

The Jericho gravity effect

If Jericho had secured that win, we would have seen that title transition into a prop for his specific brand of storytelling. Remember, this is the guy who gave us the Learning Tree era and a dozen other reinvented personas that eventually run into the ground. He has a way of turning every rivalry into a vortex that circles only around him.

Bandido is a high-flyer who thrives on movement and energy. Jericho in 2025 was moving at a pace that is better suited for a nice Sunday afternoon at the botanical gardens than a fast-paced title defense. You take a title meant to represent the gritty legacy of ROH and park it on someone who uses it to cut twenty-minute promos about his own genius. That is how you kill momentum.

The ROH dead end

ROH is a brand that is already limping along on life support within the larger structure of Khan’s vision. It desperately needs to be a showcase for guys who can actually go in the ring before they get called up to the big show. Having an established veteran holding that strap provides exactly zero value to the future of the promotion.

Look at the actual booking history of that era. When the veterans keep their feet firmly planted on the middle-card titles, the rest of the roster stagnates. It stops being a belt and starts being a participation trophy for guys who have clearly already passed their prime. It’s the kind of decision that looks fine on a stat sheet but poisons the well for everyone else involved.

Missing the point of the title

We see this trend constantly. Promoters get seduced by the name on the back of the jersey. Jericho has name value, sure, but the ROH World Title should be about the work rate. That is the entire identity that made ROH famous in the first place.

When you let the "sports entertainment" guys step in and take over a wrestling-focused title, you lose the plot entirely. We have seen recent analysis suggesting that Jericho’s booking often creates a localized time capsule that isolates him from the rest of the card. If he had occupied that spot, we wouldn't have seen the growth of other guys who actually needed the TV time. The title would have effectively dropped off the map. It wouldn't have been a prestige moment; it would have been a retirement tour segment disguised as a competitive match.

In reality, we were saved from a cycle of stale matches. Everyone talks about the dream scenarios, but nobody talks about the stagnation. Jericho holding that belt would have meant months of matches ending in 0.5 second distractions or interference. I’d rather watch a younger talent get their head kicked in for twenty minutes than sit through another Jericho power-walk to the ring.