AEW World Champion MJF is set to defend his title tonight on Dynamite. Meanwhile, a former WWE champion recently became a free agent, seemingly opening the door for a possible debut in the Stamford-based promotion. The star could show up to help Friedman retain his title and align with him going forward.

After being away for months, MJF returned to AEW on the Holiday Bash edition of Dynamite in December 2025. Upon his return, the Salt of the Earth immediately inserted himself into the World Title picture and then won the title later that month at Worlds End in a 4-way battle against Samoa Joe, Hangman Page, and Swerve Strickland. Meanwhile, Bandido won the 2025 edition of the Dynamite Diamond Ring, which granted him a World Title match. That match will happen later tonight on Dynamite: Maximum Carnage.

While fans will expect MJF to retain against Bandido, Tony Khan will make efforts to protect Bandido from a clean loss, given his stature as AEW’s sister company and his status as the reigning ROH World Champion. That is where the arrival of free agent EC3 comes in. The former WWE 24/7 champion, who was recently released by the NWA, publicly demanded that Tony Khan bring him to AEW following his exit, further opening the possibility of a debut. Tonight on Dynamite, Carter could make an impact by interfering in the World Championship match on MJF’s behalf and helping him retain. Given the similarity between the two characters, the duo could even form a new alliance going forward.

EC3 had earlier approached Tony Khan to work with MJF in AEW

In an earlier episode of Sportskeeda’s The Wrestling Outlaws, EC3 revealed that he had once approached Tony Khan to discuss an angle with MJF in AEW. The pitch centered on the similarities between MJF’s gimmick in All Elite Wrestling and Carter’s gimmick in TNA, with the latter claiming infringement on Maxwell, which would lead to a feud between the two.

“That pitch was like, yeah. You know, I put him [MJF] over because we both want to be the top guy and that’s cool. And then we’ll do whatever. Like, maybe EC3 gets knocked on the head and he has an amnesia and then here’s the top 1% is back and he doesn’t understand what is going on except this top 1% is bank cards are declined and the cars are repossessed. It’s like, I don’t know what’s happening?” [From 07:50 to 08:12]

It will be interesting to see whether Tony Khan eventually signs EC3 to All Elite Wrestling.