AEW: Five Hot Predictions for 2021

Sting wrestles……..and it is amazing

Or maybe I should say Sting wrestles a cinematic match and it is amazing.  Much like the great mixed martial artists that hang on too long and compete as shells of their former selves, we don’t need to see Sting headlining a pay-per-view in a standard singles match.

Sting is a legend.  And no one in pro wrestling deserves to come back and have their career end on their terms more than Sting.  However, we don’t need to see him trying to do the things he was doing 20 years ago in the ring.  The quickest way to get fans to stop caring about the return of Sting would be to put him in a spot that exposes his limitations.

Using these next couple of months to lead into a cinematic match with Darby Allin at Revolution would be a fantastic use of Sting’s abilities.  The aura of Sting and the creativity of Darby would give us a match that could rival the brilliance of the Stadium Stampede Match.

Having this match turn into Sting mentoring Darby would be a great direction for Sting’s character.  The two could even team together in a few tag team matches where Darby could do the majority of the work to help protect Sting from having to do too much.

This relationship with Sting can eventually elevate Darby to a point where he can win the AEW World Title in 2022.  This story would be some fantastic storytelling and keep Sting involved while utilizing his strengths.   While Sting’s best in-ring days are behind him the best of his character may still be yet to come.

Ricky Starks vs Sammy Guevara will be AEW’s Match of the Year

Within the next couple of weeks, we should see the completion of the secession of Sammy Guevara from the Inner Circle.  This will most like lead to Sammy turning face and battling his former friends from the Inner Circle.  Once Sammy claims his retribution he will be looking to claim his first AEW title.

At some point next year Darby Allin will finally succumb to Team Tazz and when he does, it should be Ricky Starks that takes the TNT Title from him.  Setting up a future showdown between Starks and Guevara.

Ricky Starks and Sammy Guevara are two members of a young core thought to be the future of AEW.  Both have shown excellence in the ring and on the microphone but have yet to share an AEW ring.

When they finally do, a series of matches will ensue.  Starks will play the role of the arrogant champion with the muscle of Team Tazz behind him and Guevara the underdog babyface that keeps coming up short.

Their rivalry will end in AEW’s second-ever cage match, where Guevara will finally win his first title in AEW.  It will be a match of the year candidate that has people talking the same way Omega and Page vs Young Bucks at Revolution did.

Getting these two young, brash future stars together has fireworks written all over it, both on the mic and in the ring.  And Guevara and Starks will make it apparent to everyone that their time as two of the faces of AEW will be much sooner than later.

Adam Page defeats Kenny Omega to become AEW World Champion

Newly crowned AEW Champion, Kenny Omega is going to have a lengthy title reign filled with fantastic matches.  But when it is time for Omega’s reign to end Hangman Adam Page will be the man to make that happen.

One thing that AEW has excelled at on a consistent basis is long term storytelling.  Page and Omega are a great example of this and lucky for us their story is nowhere near completion.

Omega and Page have had a roller-coaster relationship from the start.  It seemed apparent from the beginning that one of these two would turn on the other at any given moment.  But they worked through their differences and went on to a lengthy tag team title reign that included some match of the year candidates.

Since losing the tag titles and Omega turning down Page’s requests to stay a team Hangman has been a lost soul.  It’s anyone’s guess how low Page will sink (there is currently an invitation to join the Dark Order on the table).  But no matter how low he goes it will be part of a tremendous comeback story that will culminate with him beating Omega for the AEW World Championship at Full Gear, the same pay-per-view he lost to Omega in the World Title Eliminator Final the year before.

While Hangman is currently stuck in a valley he will achieve the highest of highs before the year 2021 is over.