10 Best Wrestlers Under 30 In The World Today

8. Daniel Garcia

MJF AEW
AEW

Daniel Garcia doesn't just get it; he gets how much he's meant to have got it by just 23.

He's already a masterful technician frighteningly advanced for his age, but he's savvy enough to work his inexperience. He explains the naive strategic errors that cost him matches on social media in a unique way of protecting himself. In the ring itself, he'll gladly jut his jaw in a senior pro's face and take a slap, knowing that he is meant to be a brash, impetuous upstart who doesn't yet have the experience to compete at the highest level. He's a performer who knows exactly what he's doing. He could play the master he almost is already, but where would that leave him when he's 30?

Long-term storytelling isn't just a feud that stretches over a period of a few months. Garcia, playing a Young Lion despite never entering a dojo system, grasps that quite brilliantly.

Narrowly edging out Lee Moriarty, who actually worked a better match opposite Bryan Danielson as part of his prodigy invitational gimmick, Garcia is not yet complete. His tongue-out taunts are a bit hammy, and open to mockery. He looks at times like he's playing a mean wrestler rather than embodying one.

He'll get it. He's so good already that he might well be doing that on purpose.

 
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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!