AEW has no shortage of talent. On any given show they can have a cast full of star studded talent. While the company focused on growing their brand in their first full calendar year on television, the new year brings a new goal. That goal is to build new stars and give All Elite Wrestling some new faces. Here are five wrestlers who are set to have a stellar year in 2021.
- Sammy Guevara
From the very beginning of Dynamite, Sammy has been in a position to shine and it’s starting to come to the forefront. The Spanish God had the first singles match in All Elite Wrestling history when he faced off against Kip Sabian and Double or Nothing in 2019. Additionally, he was featured in the opening match on AEW Dynamite’s first television episode against Cody Rhodes on October 2, 2019. From that night he would join international superstar and the AEW World Champion of the time Chris Jericho in an elite group picked by Jericho called the Inner Circle. Guevara has had a couple feuds with The Elite, Matt Hardy, and Darby Allin but has fallen short in each of the programs. We have seen flashes of brilliance such as in his series with Darby Allin, but he has seemed to play the role more along the lines of a punching bag for the Inner Circle where he’s the one to take the big hits despite being the smallest in the group. He has been chased down by a golf cart driven by Matt Hardy and Kenny Omega, ran down by Adam Page on horseback, superkicked out of his shoes by Matt Jackson, not to mention being dropped by Kenny Omega with a One Winged Angel from 15 feet in the air by Omega. Alternatively, in 2021 I would love to watch Guevara transition into the singles star everyone knows he can be. He would be the perfect opponent to take the TNT Championship away from Ricky Starks after Guevara has a face turn.
- Ricky Starks
Speaking of Ricky Starks, the newly acquired NWA talent debuted on June 17, 2020 and also coincidentally faced Cody Rhodes in his first match on Dynamite. Just over a month later, he would team up with Brian Cage and under the tutelage of Taz, would form Team Taz. Just looking at him, you can see that this man is destined to be a star. He oozes both swagger and charisma and all this is before he has spoken a single word. But when you give him a microphone, he seems to spit fire. He can elevate any program he is in with how he can not only build himself up, but highlight his opponent as well, the latter being an essential component when it comes to being a champion. If the person you are facing is not seen as a genuine contender, the title defense does not have the gravitas a championship bout should have. Starks has the talent to make it that way in each of his matches. With Darby Allin as the current TNT Champion and history already between the pair, I think that Ricky Starks would be the perfect man to take the title from Allin at either Revolution or Double or Nothing. That would help bolster the credibility that Team Taz, with the addition of Powerhouse Hobbs, has and reach their potential.
- Anna Jay
With just a handful of matches under this woman’s belt, she has already caught the eyes of so many people in wrestling. After losing her first matches in AEW, the Dark Order came and helped her to the back, a stable which she would ultimately join towards the end of August. Dubbed “Number 99” by Mr. Brodie Lee as a nod to The Great One Wayne Gretzky, big things are in store for The Queen Slayer. We have seen her take down Brandi Rhodes and a few others during her time on AEW Dark and Dynamite and it shouldn’t be too long before we see her in matches against Dr. Britt Baker, Big Swole, and Penelope Ford to name a few opponents. She still has so much room to develop and grow as a wrestler having only wrestled 19 matches at the time of writing. The AEW Women’s division has plenty more it can achieve in 2021 and while not the champion, Anna Jay can certainly be in the foreground of that picture.
- John Silver
Of course Johnny Hungee himself, the Being The Elite star had to appear on this list…especially considering where his position in the company was when he was first brought on board with Alex Reynolds when Dynamite first started. The pair, now known as numbers 3 (Reynolds) and 4 (Silver) of the Dark Order, were planned to be “local jobbers” that would travel with AEW as they toured the country. After joining the Dark Order as “Recruitment Specialists,” they, especially John Silver, began to receive traction on Being the Elite and were loved by fans. From his impersonations of Mr. Brodie Lee to his antics with Pres10n Vance and his pectoral muscles, Silver grabbed his opportunity and ran with it. The 5’ 4” muscled-up ball of fury could excel as a singles star or in a tag team with Reynolds and other members of the Dark Order. If 2020 was the year that John Silver began to walk, 2021 surely will be the year he begins to run.
- Wardlow
The hired gun of MJF debuted in AEW in a Steel Cage match against Cody Rhodes. He ultimately started his career in AEW with a loss, but things would pick back up as he collected some wins before his match against Luchasaurus, which he won as well. But after losing in the semifinals of the Eliminator Tournament, MJF and Wardlow were brought into the Inner Circle much to the chagrin of some other members. Despite being picked on by MJF, Wardlow has remained loyal but it is appearing like it will not be long before Mr. Mayhem decides to break free from MJF. Wardlow is essentially exactly what you want to see in a professional wrestler. He towers over almost everyone else in AEW at 6’ 3” and weighing 267 pounds he can out muscle almost anyone he is up against. We can only wait and see how long before he finds his rhythm and marches to the beat of his own drum.
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