Predicting Where Every AEW Wrestler Will Be In 5 Years' Time
28. Shawn Spears
In quite the irony, Shawn Spears may well end up as the player/coach he was framed as in the build towards his match with Cody at All Out 2019.
A genuinely piss-funny side character in 2021, Spears is good value in a role that functions to drive the tension between MJF and Wardlow. He also knows from arduous experience how to develop talent, and how not to do that, and is yet another shout to go behind the curtain when his minor role fades from view.
27. Sonny Kiss
An unfortunate victim of AEW's aggressive expansion from alternative to aspiring competition, Sonny Kiss, despite showing fire in a really, really under-looked match against Cody last year has been permanently relegated to Dark.
He likely won't last long, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. AEW is and also isn't the best place to develop. The platform while great and productive is beyond crowded at this point.
26. Sting
No chance he's going to WWE. He's already in the Hall of Fame, and he's unlikely to want to join up with Eve Torres and IRS in one of those phenomenally deranged backstage RAW Reunion segments.
He can't possibly still go in 2026, as magically resourceful as this run is, but that's not the end. He can act as a mascot of sorts, an ambassador type who pops in infrequently to give some braying heel undercard jackass a Death Drop.