Predicting Where Every AEW Wrestler Will Be In 5 Years' Time
70. Daniel Garcia
The technical wrestling prodigy already has the limb work continuity nerds purring with his gripping intricacy, and the man is so talented that he's already beginning to grasp the dark arts of TV wrestling: camera-friendly facial expressions, an understated yet convincing promo game, getting himself over in defeat.
He's well-liked, brimming with potential and outstanding already. In AEW, virtually every young act has potential - but few have the potential Garcia possesses as a World Champion-level polymath.
69. Top Flight
The serious injury suffered by Darius Martin has removed focus on the Top Flight tandem, and he succumbed to it so early that it's difficult to gauge just how far they can go. They had a killer match with the Young Bucks shockingly early into their run - but then again, who doesn't have a killer match with the Bucks?
Dante's singles ascent has yielded so much incredible singles action that one must still expect major things. Dante is revolutionary in the air, a massive crowd-pleaser, and a run with the World Tag Team Titles feels like an inevitability by 2026.
68. Darby Allin
Darby bumps far more infrequently than his reputation suggests; he's just exceptional at extracting every gasp of fright and making those bumps mean everything.
Moreover, the same weary forecasts were projected onto the Hardy Boyz 22 years ago, and they spent much of 2021 entering solid, professional performances that without being tremendously exciting still elicited loud crowd reactions.
All of which is to state that Darby isn't automatically going to end up a husk of a man in his mid-30s - although he might well voluntarily leave the industry behind to embark on a filmmaking career.
By 2026, he will have developed another parallel with CM Punk: by leaving wrestling with little compunction.