Top 10 AEW Wrestlers so far in 2022
January to June 2022
Honourable Mentions
Keith Lee
WWE has released a lot of wrestlers in recent times, and up there, one of if not the worst release was Keith Lee. Lee is LIMITLESS and has shown that every time he’s stepped into the AEW ring. I’ll be honest I found his debut underwhelming in terms of his in-ring work; I thought he was slow and sloppy, and there was a lot of ring rust, but to be fair to Lee, he hasn’t stepped inside a professional wrestling ring in years. But his entire charisma and persona immediately resonated with me as soon as his entrance music hit for his debut match. Since destroying Isiah Kassidy, Lee has been excellent both in-ring and out. He looks stronger and faster than ever, coupled with all the confidence a wrestler wants.
Ricky Starks
Ricky Starks is absolute; whether it’s on Rampage commentary, singles matches defending his FTW championship, interactions with most notably Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland or his tag matches with Powerhouse Hobbs, Ricky has knocked it out of the park every time. I could have coupled Team Tazz into one here, but I decided to stick with Starks over Hobbs for now. Starks has already put on some fantastic matches with Swerve, Jungleboy, Jay Lethal and the 3-way tag match at Double or Nothing this year. Ricky would be on my top 10 list if AEW put the tag titles on Team Tazz at Double or Nothing, which I think they should have. However, Starks has been sensational all year round and is, without a doubt, a future AEW World Champion.
Toni Storm
This is what leaving WWE and joining AEW looks like nowadays. Each wrestler to leave WWE and join AEW has not only come in with an immediate impact and has been booked well, something so easy WWE failed to do, but each wrestler comes into AEW with a smile on their face and actually happy to come to work. Toni Storm is a future star, and instead of becoming that in WWE, she was getting pied in the face by Charlotte Flair. Toni would 100% be on my top 10 list if she was to win the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament, which she should have. However, I feel like writing Toni off for the top 10 at the end of the year is premature. Recently on AEW Dynamite in Missouri, Toni Storm came out to save AEW Women’s World Champion Thunder Rosa after Marina Shafir attacked Rosa after their match. This wasn’t just a save from a babyface after a match; it was much more significant. We are indeed on the road to Toni Storm v Thunder Rosa for the title sooner rather than later. That’s a match I cannot wait for and will send shockwaves through women's wrestling.
Top 10
10. Kris Statlander
Since moving on from being the ‘Galaxy’s Greatest Alien”, Kris Statlander has been excellent. This new persona was needed for Statlander to become a champion in AEW. I’ve always loved Kris Statlander, but I became obsessed after her match vs Britt Baker at All Out 2021. That was the match to me which said Kris Statlnader is a future AEW Women’s World Champion, and I still stand by that, but for the time being, it looks like Kris is aiming for Jade Cargill and the TBS Championship. The fans who watch in the arena love Kris Statlander, and her promo before her Rampage match with Ruby Soho was the final piece to say Jade Cargill drops the TBS Championship to Kris Statlander when they face off. Earlier I said Thunder Rosa vs Toni Storm will send shockwaves through women's wrestling, Jade Cargill vs Kris Statlander will do that and more. AEWs future women's championship matches will show why AEW is THE wrestling promotion in North America.
9. Adam Cole (BayBay)
Adam Cole’s debut at All Out 2021 was one-half of one of the greatest moments of wrestling history. Immediately linking up with The Elite, Cole has been sensational since joining AEW. Since then, Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly joined AEW to reform ReDragon in their own right, as well as linking up with Cole and becoming part of the Undisputed Elite. This year alone, Cole has hit it out of the park. Some people will try to body shameCole but also seem to forget two things, 1) Cole is not overweight or fat, and 2) Cole is a sensational wrestler despite what shape he is in. He had a good feud with Orange Cassidy and Best Friends and has shown he’s a main event level wrestler in the title matches vs Hangman Adam Page; he has also quickly taken over the role as the leader of the Elite since Kenny Omega is still recovering from multiple injuries. Coupled with winning the inaugural Owen Hart Foundation Mens Tournament, this year alone has shown just how good Adam Cole is. I feel confident in saying Adam Cole is a future AEW World Champion.
8. Wardlow
This entrance video above alone shows just how good Wardlow’s 2022 has been so far. A man on a mission, he finally had the courage to leave MJF and make his own way. That was never going to come easily, though. The indicative bastard MJF tormented Wardlow by putting him through matches against big men, such as JD Drake, and even bringing in Impact’s W. Morrissey (formerly Big Cass in WWE). Wardlow found all of these challenges easily, so MJF granted Wardlow his match if Wardlow could undergo the same stipulations Cody Rhodes did when he feuded with MJF in 2020. The monster Wardlow is he did this with ease setting up the eventual match at Double or Nothing. A match surrounded by controversy MJF caused left fans worried and anxious but also on the edge of their seats to see whether the match would happen. It did, and Wardlow did what Wardlow does best and destroyed MJF. Wardlow subsequently became #AllElite and has set his sights on Scorpio Sky and the TNT Championship.
7. Wheeler Yuta
Wheeler Yuta started the year as part of Best Friends. But Bryan Danielson was bold in saying he wanted to create a faction with Jon Moxley centred around violence and developing young wrestlers such as Yuta. This had huge repercussions for Yuta as he was the man pinpointed to become the first person to join the Blackpool Combat Club. But to do that, Yuta had to show violence in matches against 2 of the best wrestlers in the world. And both times, Wheeler knocked it out of the park. He lost the matches in what were amazing matches but what he won was so much more. One of the fastest-rising young wrestlers in professional wrestling today, Yuta won the ROH Pure Championship against Josh Woods at ROH Supercard of Honor. Yuta recently competed in NJPW Best of the Super Juniors and performed valiantly. Yuta is rising super fast, and now having linked up with Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson and William Regal, there is no doubt that Yuta is a star both now and for the future.
6. Bryan Danielson
Another member of the Blackpool Combat Club, Bryan Danielson, has transitioned over to AEW from WWE with such ease. Bryan was the other half of one of the greatest wrestling moments of all time when he also debuted at All Out 2021. Bryan would eventually go on to “kick everyone’s head in”. Bryan put on an incredible 60-minute time limit draw against Hangman Adam Page at the end of last year. This year in AEWs first Dynamite on TBS, Bryan put on another clinic with Hangman Adam Page, just losing out. It took Hangman a combined 90 minutes to defeat Bryan. This loss didn’t stop Bryan, who kept “kicking heads in”. Bryan eventually had a feud with Jon Moxley which resulted in the formation of the Blackpool Combat Club. Bryan left WWE to join AEW to face the best wrestlers in the world and to bleed, something he has done. I think Bryan is up there as the best wrestler in the world, with Kenny Omega on their best days. Bryan recently was announced as one of the first-ever inductees into the ROH Hall of Fame. What has been a stellar year so far is nowhere near finished yet for the American Dragon, Bryan Danielson.
5. FTR
FTR has been so good I had no choice but to include a tag team on this list. And there’s no denying FTR have been tag team of the year. They beat the Lucha Bros for the AAA Tag Titles and the Briscoes for the ROH Tag Titles. FTR has been fantastic this year. Dax has put on singles clinics against the likes of Adam Cole and CM Punk. FTR fired Tully Blanchard in a good move and turned babyface through pure great wrestling. As a result, FTR became so over they even faced off against each other in the first round of the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament. FTR also beat the Young Bucks in their rematch over a year in the making, and the 3rd match will be even bigger than the two we’ve already had. FTR has put on the two best tag matches this year, one against the Briscoes and the other against The Young Bucks. FTR has resorted to calling themselves ‘6-Star’ FTR because they’ve won 6 tag titles across four major promotions. I predict that 7-Star FTR will be born soon, as I believe they will win the IWGP Tag Titles at Forbidden Door.
4. Hangman Adam Page
Hangman Adam Page had been our AEW for most of 2022, so he was always going to make this list, but the question was whereabouts on the list does he deserve to be. It was a real toss-up between 3rd and 4th for me. However, I decided to go with Hangman at 4th. Hangman finally defeated Kenny Omega at Full Gear last year to win the World Championship. And he has been a true champion. Every match Hangman has put on have been bangers. I find it crazy for some people to say this title reign by Hangman has been poor. He put on two unbelievable matches with Bryan Danielson, which I have already described above. After those matches, he went on a mini-feud with lance Archer. While the feud wasn’t great, the Texas Deathmatch was amazing. Hangman had to adapt to the sneaky Dan Lambert when he was prevented from using the Buckshot Lariat. A champion always finds a way, and that’s what Hangman did by using AEW referee Paul Turner as a vault to do the Buckshot and defeat Lance Archer. The feud with Adam Cole was, in my opinion, underrated by some. Two very good matches with lots of ever-changing dynamics as an obstacle for the champion to get past. Unfortunately for Hangman, he lost the World Championship at Double or Nothing when his good conscience stopped him from cheating and getting a clear win. The standard Hangman has set all year as champion is going to be extremely hard for whoever is going to be the interim AEW World Champion.
3. Eddie Kingston
There’s not much to say about Eddie Kingston that hasn’t already been said. Eddie is the most natural guy in all of professional wrestling, and we love him for that. Eddie doesn’t know what kayfabe is; he knows who Eddie is, and every week the AEW wrestler Eddie Kingston is the same person as the person Eddie Kingston. I wasn’t a fan of the Chris Jericho feud originally, but that’s because Jericho was doing some of the worst work of his career against Daniel Garcia and 2point0. However, the formation of JAS shows why Chris Jericho is one of the best minds in the game. He saw what he was doing was wrong and adapted; Jericho is now amazing again. Eddie finally won a PPV match in AEW against Chris Jericho at Revolution this year. That would further annoy Jericho, and to this day, the feud is ongoing, but it’s perfect. The AEW fans love Eddie Kingston, and despite the fact he tried to set Chris Jericho and Bryan Danielon on fire at Double or Nothing in Anarchy in the Arena, the fans still chant his name loudly every single time he shows up. Eddie will undoubtedly fulfil his dream and become a World Champion in professional wrestling someday.
2. CM Punk
Seven years ago, CM Punk left us. Seven years later, he came back for 1..last..run. In the biggest return in wrestling history, CM Punk sold out the United Center in his home town on a rumouThat’st’s how beloved he is. Today, CM Punk is the biggest draw in wrestling, including WWE. He gave AEW their biggest PPV buy rate in history, and he’s brought more, old and new, eyes onto AEW. CM Punk has been sensational since his return. This year alone, he put on one of, if not the greatest feuds of all time vs MJF. And after seven long years, less than a year after his return, CM Punk is once again a professional wrestling world champion. Unfortunately, CM Punk is injured for a few months, and despite being willing to relinquish the title, Tony Khan said he’ll introduce an interim AEW World Championship until Punk returns. Like Punk said, “the comeback will be better than the setback”, and without a doubt, Punk has been one of the best in 2022.
1. Jon Moxley
Jon Moxley did one of the hardest but most courageous things ever when he admitted to himself he had an alcohol problem and needed help to fix it, and that’s what Mox did. Since returning, Jon Moxley has been on the run of a lifetime. This run is not limited to only AEW either. Mox has been all across America fighting in multiple promotions such as AEW, NJPW, GCW etc. Everything Mox is involved in is amazing. He has had not even a single average second on tv that’s not been fantastic since minute 1. Jon Moxley is one of the founding members of the most violent faction in pro wrestling history, the Blackpool Combat Club. Mox never got a title reign in front of fans, but at Forbidden Door, Jon Moxley will face Hiroshi Tanahashi for the interim AEW World Championship, and I know for sure his run will be incredible. I predict that JON MOXLEY WILL BE THE BEST WRESTLER IN THE WORLD IN 2022.