Predicting Where Every AEW Wrestler Will Be In 5 Years' Time
67. Dustin Rhodes
Dustin Rhodes is ageless - his match with Bryan Danielson in October was the most underrated of a legendary run - but surely he can't work to that standard by 2026. Then again, people would not have forecast his 2021 run in 2013, when he first started killing it as a twilight cowboy.
AEW can't turn every sharp wrestling mind into a coach or agent, but fittingly, given his old, infamous gimmick, Rhodes has the Midas touch with the Women's division. His passion and nous has seasoned many a green talent on the Dark loop.
The man is invaluable and has a job for life.
66. Eddie Kingston
Eddie Kingston deserves the world, and this predictions article will offer him nothing less.
He's another Tanahashi-adjacent figure, in that he loses nothing in a loss and works such a valuable, emotive style, which becomes more affecting the more thrashed he gets, that a defeat always scans as a hard-fought heartbreak rather than a bad booking decision. The people always *want* him to win. That's the difference.
If there's any justice, he'll be doing what he's doing now in 2026 - making everything, not least his opponents, better - but he's going to be doing this after earning extra credibility following a beautiful golden handshake World Title win in the next two years.
65. Men Of The Year
The Men Of The Year won't exist as a pair by 2026.
A reformed SCU Vs. The North programme reads as an awesome means of dissolving the unit over the next year or so, but beyond that, it's more practical to project the fortunes of Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky individually.
Both will exist as pin-eaters in the heel and face roles respectively, and are so talented at invaluable roles that they could well occupy them deep into their runs.
Little glamour, vital world-building seems like the safest and most realistic guess.