Not since WWE in the early 00’s with guys like Cena, Orton, Lesnar, Benjamín, Carlito, Jindrak, Haas,
Maven, Doug Basham, Nic Dinsmore, Damaja, Jamal/Umaga, Matt Morgan, Batista (well he wasn’t that young lol) etc. does it feel like a major promotion has so many future megastars like AEW does right now. Now in WWE’s case, some became mega stars, some became mid carders, some faded away.
Here is my question; Who do you think of all the young talent in AEW, will be the biggest star? Its easy to say “all of them”, or “most of them” that’s not my question. I want to know, in 2031, which guy is going to be the one who achieved the most success, for conversation sake lets keep it in the realm of AEW (so not, so and so is going to jump and be a WWE star).
Theoretically you can choose anyone. It can be one of the young core four in Sammy, MJF, Darby or Jungle Boy. It can be someone who is just getting into to AEW, it can be someone on the indies who hasn’t signed yet, it can even be someone who is currently in WWE that you think will make the jump. The only rule, is they need to be in their 20’s at the moment.
There are too many threads and conversations in the wrestling world that are rooted in negativity, I thought it would be fun to have one based on promise and excitement. I think most of us can agree that AEW has done a superb job when it comes to building young talent, and I think this can be an interesting conversation.
To answer my own question, I think its MJF. I’ve always been a believer that character work is the most important thing to achieve success in wrestling on the big stage by a mile, and of all the young guys nobody has the character work down as well as MJF. He may not be the best in the ring from the potential options, but I think he is levels above everyone in the character and promo department. With that said, I also think his in ring work is very good, he rarely fails to deliver when its a big match.
I think MJF is the most likely. He is basically if he goes to WWE a better version of the Miz to them so he’s probably best to stay In AEW for a while.
The biggest star in wrestling though will be Gable Steveson but I don’t see him going to AEW
MJF. He is one step away from the top of the card right now. In a few years, he can be one of the biggest heels in recent memory.
Darby just seems to connect with the audience. That type of charisma can’t be taught. It can be improved upon, but you know what I’m saying…
The way Im looking at it is someone who in 10 years will be right in the middle of their prime. Either way, I agree Page is going to be a huge star.
About a year ago, I said that AEW was misusing Omega. I thought that he was being wasted in a tag team, and it bugged me that you had Mox (hes just not my cup of tea in main event matches) in boring matchups in the main event while Omega was the guy I wanted to see on top.
Long story short, I was wrong about the Omega/Page part. The storytelling between Omega and Page has led to what is going to feel like a HUGE match that is going to crown Page the next big star of the company, and without that tag team I dont think that happens at this level. You have to give it to Khan for his slow played story here, truly marvelous storytelling.
You can make a case for all of the core young guns (not Austin and Colten Gunn, though they could be in the mix as well). The fans genuinely like Darby, Sammy, and Jungle Boy. Kids are painting their faces like Darby. He might be held back by his style if anything. Jungle Boy and Sammy are more likely main eventers, though I agree Jack Perry is a main event name. MJF feels like a slam dunk right now after everything he’s done.
If you’re saying he’s the biggest reason for their success, I can see that. If you think that he is their biggest name in the mainstream, you’re loosing me. I dont think the average fan or non fan knows Tony Khan more then guys like Punk and Danielson.