Predicting Where Every AEW Wrestler Will Be In 5 Years' Time

7. Red Velvet

Jade Cargill Red Velvet
AEW

Gifted with inherent babyface fire and driven to go all out every time she is afforded TV time, this eagerness has manifested in scarily committed botches too often - but it's this drive and talent with which Red Velvet will (eventually) succeed at the TBS Title level.

Encouragingly, she already possesses the TV-friendly intangibles - not least of which those glaring facial expressions that promise a reckoning on the comeback - but it's once more on AEW to give her the platform.

6. Riho

Riho AEW
AEW

Riho is in the States far more than you'd expect, given her reduced TV presence in 2021. She's an enchanting, spirited babyface with a strong crowd connection who drew well in quarter hours pre-pandemic. She should be utilised more often.

She's a Japanese talent who cannot possibly turn heel. She's simply too pure and charming for that. Given her disposition and the platform of US TV, character progression is limited - but at 24, she is still so young and so undeniably talented that additional title reigns can't not be in her future, whether the stories have any depth to them or not.

5. Ruby Soho

Ruby Soho
AEW

Soho is destined for gold and quite a bit of it over the next two years; while she still hasn't quite worked the show-them-what-they-missed-out-on breakthrough banger, it's coming.

She'll rediscover her brilliance in time and star as a key figure of the division. In 2026, she will be in the wrestler's prime age of 35. Conceivably, she could still reign as an Ace type - but five years is a long time, and there are few better female wrestlers equipped to play the vet gatekeeper and get the next generation over.

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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!