Quick Takes: Vince McMahon Wrestling at 'Mania, AEW's Top Babyface MJF?, More

Cody Rhodes' All Elite Wrestling departure and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin's rumored in-ring return had plenty of people talking in the wrestling world last week. That buzz carried over, with quite a bit going down in the worlds of WWE and AEW.

After almost a decade of inactivity, WWE chairman Vince McMahon may be looking to step back in the ring for WrestleMania 38, according to a new report from POST Wrestling's John Pollack. It's expected to be part of a program with Pat McAfee leading into The Show of Shows, kicking off with their interview on Thursday.

Of all the names rumored to take part in 'Mania this year, Vince is the one that reeks the most of desperation in terms of the lengths the company is willing to go to in order to generate excitement for the event.

AEW, meanwhile, looks to be bringing in more talent in the weeks ahead. As exciting as these arrivals are, it's important to focus on the stacked roster the promotion already has and those who are killing it in their current roles, including MJF, Chris Jericho and Eddie Kingston.

This installment of Quick Takes will tackle MJF's brilliant babyface promo on the latest Dynamite, what's next for Cesaro as he enters free agency, the pros and cons of WWE unifying its top titles and more.

Nothing screams star power for WrestleMania 38 quite like Vince McMahon wrestling at the age of 76—at least in the eyes of WWE officials.

Recent rumblings suggesting that he's slated to face Pat McAfee may not be far-fetched considering he will be making a rare public appearance on the SmackDown commentator's podcast Thursday. There is no reason to do a match between the two unless it was an attempt on WWE's part to get people buzzing going into the two-night event.

In reality, it will have the opposite effect on a lot of fans; there is nothing redeeming about it.

It's already been confirmed that Ronda Rousey, Brock Lesnar and Edge will be in action on the show, but WWE's depth at the moment is so shockingly thin that the promotion apparently feels the only answer to its woes is bringing in more names from the past and from the celebrity world.

Logan Paul and Johnny Knoxville are odd albeit interesting choices, and both could end up having impressive performances in the ring. Cody Rhodes and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin would be positive additions to the card as well if they are in action.

Vince McMahon breaking his in-ring retirement, however, is unnecessary. If the company put the same amount of effort into getting over its roster as it does in featuring the old guard and outsiders, it would likely not find itself in such an unfortunate predicament.

Chris Jericho cemented his spot among the all-time greats long ago, but his past two years have been anything but stellar from a creative standpoint.

From a failed comedic feud with Orange Cassidy to a yearlong storyline with MJF that he didn't need to come out on the winning end of, Jericho wasn't exactly lighting the world on fire going into 2022. His rivalry with Eddie Kingston didn't get off to the strongest start and initially felt like his latest attempt to latch on to someone more relevant, but he's knocked it out of the park with his past two promos on Dynamite.

When he puts the goofiness to the side and Inner Circle behind him, Jericho can deliver the goods. Of course, Kingston has been crucial to his recent resurgence, but Wednesday served as a reminder that the inaugural AEW world champion is still capable of greatness.

The obvious next step would be to complete his heel turn. As popular of a babyface as Jericho is (especially with his catchy entrance music), he has always been in his element as a heel, and having a beloved rival in Kingston would make the transition that much easier.

With one talking segment, the pair managed to sell many viewers on their upcoming clash at Revolution. It's impossible to predict who will win, and the aftermath should be interesting to follow.

When all is said and done, Cesaro will go down as one of the most underrated wrestlers in WWE history.

Then again, underrated might be the wrong word considering virtually everyone is aware of how talented he is. Unfortunately, he was never able to get above a certain level in WWE despite getting over with the audience on countless occasions.

Per Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com, The Swiss Superman is a free agent following the recent expiration of his contract. That means there isn't a 90-day no-compete clause for him and that he's able to show up wherever he wants whenever he wants.

The most logical landing spot for him is All Elite Wrestling. Tony Khan would be foolish to not consider signing him soon, but it may almost be better for him to explore other options, if only to ensure he doesn't get lost in the shuffle as other newcomers have managed to in AEW over the past year.

Promotions such as Impact and New Japan Pro-Wrestling would be perfect places for him to showcase his skills, get an aggressive push and build his stock so that it will mean even more if he chooses AEW as his ultimate destination. Regardless of where he winds up, he's about to show what WWE overlooked for the better part of the past decade.

After much speculation, it was made official this week: Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 38 will be a unification match for the Universal Championship and the WWE Championship.

In essence, that would put an end to the brand split, but that has not been confirmed. If the brand split sticks, whoever wins at WrestleMania (likely Reigns) will have to appear on both brands fairly regularly to defend the undisputed championship against members of the SmackDown and Raw rosters.

The brand split has always been a fine idea in theory but never properly executed by WWE. With the vast amount of releases over the past two years, combining the rosters for the first time since 2016 may not be such a bad thing.

Then again, it all but guarantees that fewer Superstars will get opportunities at the top of the card. Look no further that the time frame between 2014 and 2016: the top title was only held by a handful of people, and the rest of the roster was basically booked as midcard fodder.

SmackDown was also irrelevant at that time, and history would surely repeat itself if there were only one world champion again. While it's worth experimenting with for a brief period, don't think for a second that WWE's creative woes will be solved by having one unified champ.

In fact, the product could worsen.

Just when we thought we had seen it all in the fantastic feud between CM Punk and MJF, the Long Island native took the storyline to a whole other level with his tremendous mic work on Wednesday's edition of AEW Dynamite.

Despite the live crowd booing him from start to finish, MJF cut a gut-wrenching promo about why he idolized Punk growing up and how the multi-time world champion inspired him to break into the business. The best part about the promo was that everything he said was 100 percent true.

The raw emotion he showed was nothing short of stellar and left fans wondering what he has in store for his Dog Collar match with Punk at Revolution.

Needless to say, the other shoe will drop soon enough and MJF will reveal that his sob story was designed to to lure Punk into a false sense of security. However, that doesn't mean he can't be a breakout babyface eventually if that phenomenal promo were any indication.

As hard as it may be to believe because he plays his heel role to perfection, MJF can and will be beloved by a majority of the audience one day. It's more a matter of when than if, and that promo proved as much.

That time shouldn't be now, though, as all roads should lead to him becoming AEW's next heel world champion sooner rather than later.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.