Predicting Where Every AEW Wrestler Will Be In 5 Years' Time
79. Bryan Danielson
Despite what he reckons now, he'll still be wrestling, and he'll still be incredible at it. Basically, in five years' time, he will be AEW's Hiroshi Tanahashi: an invaluable genius who will put on classics that he probably won't win, but you'd never think that under his spell.
He'll do more lighthearted stuff, too. He'll basically do what he wants because AEW are blessed to have him and actually recognise it.
78. FTR
They insist that they're not long for this wrestling lark, but they simultaneously openly love it more than any other act. The gear, the theme, the style: they do wrestling like they're curling telephone wires around their fingers, and that love is reciprocated.
The constant retirement teases are just...odd. Dax is a notorious wind-up merchant, so it's hard to take what he says seriously. The issue is that they're bereft of options. ROH is dead, WWE doesn't do tag wrestling, Impact barely makes a ripple.
They'll leave for a while, but they'll be back. This is true of every wrestler.
77. Chris Jericho
This one is really difficult, because Jericho, once ageless in the ring, has had an uneven 2021.
In the right context - his two-match singles series with MJF was vastly underrated - he can still tear the roof off with his dark arts magic. In the wrong context, he struggles to recapture his legendary form.
He's closer to the end, but the question is will he recognise that?
Since the answer to that is "lol f*ck off, he loves the spotlight too much," the real question is: Will he age gracefully in AEW as a Sting-like figure, or take one last massive WWE payday?
He's buried WWE for the last four years, but, and this is actually a compliment, he's a carny. A very successful carny. He'll leave AEW amicably, do the Hall of Fame/2K Legends deal...
...and then return to AEW as Sting-like figure, all by the time 2026 is done.