AEW World Championship changed hands at Double or Nothing 2026, and according to Jim Ross, the fallout could lead to major developments involving both MJF and Mick Foley in the months ahead.

Speaking on the latest edition of Grilling JR, Ross shared his thoughts on Foley's surprise AEW debut and MJF's future as champion following his victory over Darby Allin in the Title vs. Hair main event.

Foley appeared at the pay-per-view as part of the Buy In pre-show panel alongside Renee Paquette, marking his first appearance for AEW. While some fans immediately speculated about the WWE Hall of Famer potentially returning to the ring, Ross believes that is not why Tony Khan brought him into the company.

"I think Mick was in the role he’s probably going to be in more often than not. This is me talking. I don’t think that Tony Khan hired Mick Foley and pay him a handsome wage with a thought going that Mick will get back in the ring and wrestle. Now he may do an angle and being involved in some physicality, I would be surprised if that didn’t happen, but that’s not his primary function. He’s going to be telling stories, and that type of thing."

Ross also spoke warmly about reconnecting with Foley backstage during the event and noted how enthusiastic the wrestling legend appeared about this latest chapter of his career.

"It was good catching up with him. We took pictures like we were in high school, so there’ll be a bunch of those floating out there somewhere along the way. You can tell Conrad he’s really happy, or seems to be very happy with his lot in life today, he wants to get back and be involved where it’s not going to cripple him, and he got a great pop, even though he wasn’t promoted for a long length of time."

Attention then turned to MJF, who once again sits atop AEW after regaining the World Championship. Ross praised MJF's understanding of both the business and his character, predicting that his latest reign will be a successful one.

"He’ll have a good run. I don’t know who’s next on his sheet, I don’t know who he wants to be booked with, but it’ll be good, because Max understands the business, he understands himself and his character better than anybody else, so I think he’ll do good, and he’ll be a busy champion. I don’t think he’s going to wrestle every week, but does he need to? I don’t think so."

Although storyline circumstances currently prevent Hangman Adam Page from challenging for the AEW World Championship following his Texas Deathmatch loss to MJF earlier this year, Ross still believes the two stars will cross paths again.

"They’ll line up some opponents for him. The Cowboy from Virginia. Adam Page, yeah, he’s a stud, and he’s a star, so you gotta believe he’ll get into it with him sooner than later."

Ross also suggested that MJF's popularity could continue to grow despite his status as one of wrestling's most notorious villains. With championship gold around his waist, Ross would not be surprised if fans begin embracing him more openly.

"Interesting to see also if some way, and I’m not advocating this, but people like to cheer for others that are successful, and being the AEW heavyweight champion tells me that fans might cheer. Wouldn’t shock me."

Before wrapping up the discussion, Ross reflected on Darby Allin's championship run, crediting the former champion for proving he can thrive at the top of the card and deliver in major main event situations.

"I’m a big fan of Darby’s. I think he’s done a great job in representing AEW as a champion, and the main thing we learned is that Darby can carry an event, he can have good matches with anybody, people like flying and high risk stuff, he can provide that."