It's time to push Daniel Garcia to the top

Daniel Garcia remains in All Elite. The 26-year-old stepped into the AEW ring during the October 9 edition of the show to make it clear that he’s staying in the promotion. After what looked to be a situation in which he could leave, AEW has a major piece for the future. But the future isn’t the point. It is time to push Garcia to the top immediately.

On October 9, Fightful Select reported that Garcia is “factored into significant creative plans moving forward.” Those plans need to include several big wins over the top stars and a position to be AEW World Champion.

There was a time when Garcia had all the momentum needed to reach any accolade. He was the Ring of Honor Pure Champion and poised to be the man to take the ROH World Championship off the waist of Chris Jericho. Unfortunately, the Jericho Vortex did what the Jericho Vortex does and Garcia’s momentum was sapped away. He’d even rebuild that momentum during the Continental Classic, surprisingly during a losing streak. But after the wave of support, he had coming out of that, he was pushed to the back.

That cannot happen again. It’s understandable why he took the loss to MJF as his contract status was still up in the air. But the moment that MJF returns, Garcia needs to pick up a major win over him. From there, he should continue to gain steam. If there’s a CC planned for 2024, then Garcia is the right man to step in and get the win this year. Imagine Daniel Garcia versus Kazuchika Okada with Garcia getting the victory.

AEW has a lot of titles, and while many of them feel important, none of them have the status of the AEW World Title, and rightfully so. If Danielson does drop that title to Jon Moxley at AEW WrestleDream, then Garcia must be the next man up in the queue. Garcia checks all the boxes. He can talk. The fans have his back. And he can work with any performer standing in front of him. He’s already one of the top technical wrestlers in the business, and he’s one of the best in the world under thirty years old. AEW has the potential to build him into a foundational piece for the future.

AEW has been stop-and-start with Daniel Garcia for too long. Now that it is clear he’s staying with the company, his push should be (to steal a line from Trevor Lee) “To the moon!”