AEW: Five Wrestlers/Teams That Will Be Champions In The Next Year
As AEW begins to near its second anniversary, it seems apparent that the promotion is here to stay. While it has been nowhere near perfect in any sense of the word, it has done a number of things really, really well.
What draws so many fans to AEW programming is the things that they do so well. The company has excelled in its ability to tell long-term stories with its talent. They have also been successful in taking relatively unknown independent wrestlers and giving those that excel the opportunity to perform in front of a national audience.
Another thing that AEW should be commended on is the way they have handled their championship titles in its brief history.
The biggest star that is or has been on the AEW roster is unquestionably Chris Jericho. He is an easily recognizable face and name to even casual wrestling fans and was an easy choice to become the first-ever AEW World Champion, as just his name alone was guaranteed to put eyes on the promotion.
AEW also went with veterans of the sport as their inaugural tag team and TNT champions. Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky upset the Lucha Bros in the finals of the AEW World Tag Team Championship tournament and Cody Rhodes defeated Lance Archer to become the first TNT Champion.
On the women’s side of the promotion, AEW chose a scrappy underdog named Riho as its first Women’s World Champion. Riho would overcome a massive size disadvantage to upset Nyla Rose and win the women’s title. In doing so, Riho captured our hearts as the 98-pound dynamo with the never say die attitude and the ability to overcome all odds.
The common theme among these first-time champions is that AEW gave us champions that we cared about, either because we knew them as stars from other promotions, or they created a story leading up to the championship bouts that led to us becoming invested in them, such as the case with Riho, Scorpio Sky, and Frankie Kazarian.
But now that the promotion is coming out of its infancy, there is an absolute need to balance the success of its established stars while having an eye on the future. And a large part of that future entails having the promotion’s young talent go over established veterans, in some cases winning championships.
AEW has reached the point where it no longer needs to have its titles on recognizable names. It can now start to reward the hard work of anyone in the promotion that the creative team feels is deserving of a championship run.