As we know, All Elite Wrestling houses many championships, and with its abundance of belts come more opportunities for wrestlers to savor their first taste of gold.
In 2025, we saw Bobby Lashley, Shelton Benjamin, Brody King, Bandido, Adam Cole, Dustin Rhodes, Kyle Fletcher, Mark Briscoe, Katsuyori Shibata, Ricochet, and Harley Cameron win their maiden titles in the promotion, with the latter two becoming the inaugural National and Women's World Tag Team champions, respectively.
With such an impressive list of first-time titleholders, it begs the question: Which AEW stars will replicate their contemporaries' success in 2026? Given the wealth of talent Tony Khan's fed has under contract, there are plenty of great choices for such an achievement. In particular, these wrestlers stand out over the rest.
These three AEW wrestlers will win their first championship in the promotion in 2026.
Kyle O'Reilly
After roughly four years in AEW (though he lost some of that time to a frightening neck injury), Kyle O'Reilly is finally getting a singles push.
Since returning from the injured list in March 2024, the Vancouver, British Columbia native has stuck to teaming with Paragon teammate Roderick Strong (and, when he was healthy, Adam Cole) and palling around with The Conglomeration, but things took a surprising turn for him in the men's Blood and Guts match.
Fighting alongside his Conglomeration comrades, a bloody and battered O'Reilly forced Death Riders leader Jon Moxley to tap out, which itself culminated a multi-week story where O'Reilly came close to submitting Moxley only for the former world champ to wriggle out of trouble. Then, to prove that he wasn't a beneficiary of circumstance, he repeated the feat in a No Holds Barred match at Full Gear.
Both results seemed like a concerted effort by Moxley to elevate O'Reilly. Judging by the reactions the former Ring of Honor World Champion received after those wins, that work is starting to pay off.
Even though we haven't seen O'Reilly since Full Gear, those victories have set him up for a big 2026. He has more than enough talent in the ring and as an on-screen personality to maintain the momentum he's picked up over the last few weeks, and while it may not lead to a world title reign, he could easily get one with the TNT or National title.
Megan Bayne
Since debuting in AEW this past February, Megan Bayne has established herself as a force in the promotion's burgeoning women's division. Standing at nearly six feet and possessing the physicality to match her frame, the former World Wonder Ring Stardom standout fits like a well-worn glove as the powerhouse that the other women measure themselves against.
As impressive as Bayne has been, it hasn't translated to championship success. She's had her chances -- at Dynasty this past April and in the Women's World Tag Team Championship tournament -- but she was bested by "Timeless" Toni Storm on both occasions. Of course, there's no shame in falling short against the presumptive ace of the division, but fans are still clamoring for Bayne to win her first title in the company.
That moment could come in the next year. With Kris Statlander reigning as the world champion right now, Khan could revisit her mini-feud with Bayne and use whatever equity Statlander has (hopefully) built with the belt to make Bayne a fixture at the top of the card.
If that doesn't happen, Bayne could team up with either Marina Shafir -- with whom she developed a nice chemistry during the tag team tournament -- or a recovered Penelope Ford and win the Women's World Tag Team titles. Heck, maybe she'll beat whichever babyface finally unseats Mercedes Moné as TBS champion and hold that for a while.
All three are realistic possibilities for someone who only needed a few months to become a featured name in AEW's distaff ranks.
JetSpeed (Kevin Knight and "Speedball" Mike Bailey)
When Kevin Knight and "Speedball" Mike Bailey formed JetSpeed midway through 2025, they seemed destined to win the AEW World Tag Team Championship. Of course, that didn't happen, but there's still a lot to like about Bailey and Knight as a duo and as individuals. Going into 2026, it's not hard to envision them with gold around their waists.
The most obvious path to belting these two up is via a program with FTR, the current World Tag Team champions. Jetspeed already owns a win over the decorated tandem, so it wouldn't take much to restart a feud between these four men. Plus, FTR putting over a new(ish), fresh(ish) team seems like a logical endpoint for this heel title reign before renewing hostilities with Adam Copeland and Christian Cage (whenever that happens).
However, Bailey and Knight are more than talented enough as singles wrestlers to get some consideration for a run with one of AEW's many (many) solo titles. After all, Bailey was arguably the best independent wrestler in the world before he signed with the company in early 2025, and Knight became a rising name in New Japan Pro Wrestling's junior heavyweight division before coming over in March.
They're a team for now, and they have helped revive the company's drowning tag division, but Khan surely has plans for these two as one-man acts. If not, he should.
The 2025 Continental Classic has given us a glimpse of what Bailey and Knight are capable of against some of AEW's top stars. Yes, it takes more than having a good match with Kyle Fletcher or Kazuchika Okada to become a headline attraction, but it doesn't hurt, and as long as these two continue to impress in their one-on-one outings, they should get a chance to move up the ladder.