Now that we have some more recent talent additions in AEW like Keith Lee and presumably Cesaro (Claudio) at some point, it'd be fun to play the “Who is AEW championship worthy”? The AEW fanbase has long been supporters of the underutilized wrestlers of this type. And there seems to be a logjam of people who, with the right builds/storylines would be believable as Champion. This is my list, and wondering what yours and the rest of the blog's list would look like:
– MJF (just on fire with his character, and while not Danielson in the ring, he is doing really well)
– Adam Cole (I know some are becoming sour on him, but good matches with top level crowd reactions)
– Adam Cole (I know some are becoming sour on him, but good matches with top level crowd reactions)
– CM Punk (Probably doesn't need a title run, but it feels like fans would love at least a short one)
– Bryan Danielson (Same as Punk, and has just been a machine in the ring with an intense character)
– Keith Lee (just a monster with so much potential, but may need character development to solidify his status)
– Hook (may be years away, but you also can't wait too long if his connection to the fanbase keeps up the pace it's growing)
I could also at some point see Black and Claudio who have such fun in ring styles but would have to have a lot of storyline/character work to move up maybe. And I haven't even talked about previous champions like Kenny Omega or Moxley. Thankfully, there seem to be great storylines for all the above at times where a title on the line isn't necessary to help build a great product.
I think that clearly we’re getting CM Punk and MJF as the next two guys, and honestly that will take us another year and a half and it’s tough to speculate past them.