Happy New Year!
I hope your holidays went as well as you deserved them to be. Unfortunately, the holidays in my house weren’t very smooth. My wife and daughter both battled a major cold, with the runniest noses you’ll ever see. Then, smack dab in the middle of that, I came down with a stomach bug, which meant all three of us got to be sick at the same time. Hooray!
With a new year, it’s time for me to bring my “30 Under 30” column back. I don’t remember the first year I did this column, but it’s been a tradition for years now, and I love doing it. If you’re new to my work, the “30 Under 30” premise is simple. I come up with a list of the 30 wrestlers under the age of 30 that I think will have the brightest futures. That last part is the key thing to remember. This list isn’t necessarily who I feel are the 30 BEST wrestlers under the age of 30. I’m not sure if you’ve been paying attention to wrestling throughout the entire history of ever, but being the best in-ring worker doesn’t guarantee that you’ll be a success, just like being subpar in the ring doesn’t guarantee that you’ll be a failure. The names on this list are just those that, for one reason or another, I feel have the best chances to see success in the future. Maybe they’re midcard (or lower) names who I feel have a shot at being World Champions. They might be top-tier talents that I feel are most likely to stay that way.
Before I move on, I do have an answer to a question people have asked me in the past. My lists are purposely mainstream-centric. It’s not that I don’t know or care about the small independents. I just look at it like this… it’s a lot easier to look at the futures of people in, say, WWE than it is of people who wrestle in front of 30 people in an elementary school gymnasium. It’s the same reason you see a million mocks for the upcoming NFL Draft and none for the 2027 NFL Draft. It isn’t a knock on independent wrestlers at all. There are a ton of fantastic independent wrestlers out there, both under and over the age of 30.
I have two rules that I put in place for this column…
- Wrestlers have to be under the age of 30 as of January 1st, so they’re fine if they turn 30 on January 2nd
- The list is only in chronological order, starting from the oldest wrestler to the youngest wrestler
That’s it.
Are we good?
Alright. Let’s take a look into the future.
Sasha Banks (Born on January 26th, 1992): Sometimes, it feels like Sasha has been wrestling on Raw and Smackdown since 2005. It’s just that she has accomplished so much in her career, and here we are, a few weeks short of her 30th birthday. You can’t say she has achieved it all, though. If that’s important to her, or to you, she hasn’t won a Royal Rumble or a Money In The Bank match. It’s not like she needs those things, but hey, they’re still on the table for her. The main thing working against her is something I’ve mentioned a few times in my columns through the years, and that’s the physical toll that wrestling has put on her body. It’s a brutal sport for anybody, but for someone who has gone so hard for so long on such a petite frame? She has had several times in her main roster career where she needed to miss brief periods of time with “minor” injuries here and there, but thus far, she has been lucky enough to avoid anything major taking her out of action for lengthy stretches. I hope that continues for her, but it’s still a concern of mines.
Jade Cargill (Born on June 3rd, 1992): We have yet to see a ton from her in the ring yet, as AEW has been very careful with how they present her, but she just SCREAMS out that she’s a future star. She looks like a billion bucks. Within hours of this column going live, Jade could be crowned the very first TBS Champion on the very first episode of Dynamite to air on the titular (heh… tit) station. Even if she loses to Ruby Soho, though, it’s pretty clear that she has “arrived” and that she’s going to be a major force in the AEW women’s division for what could be years to come. We’re only ten months into her career, so even with the later start than the average wrestler gets, the sky could really be the limit for her if she continues growing as a performer.
Jay White (Born on October 9th, 1992): It almost seems like “Switchblade” has become a bit of a forgotten member of the New Japan roster, and that’s a shame. Perhaps it’s because he hasn’t wrestled in Japan since early May 2021. Since then, he has worked strictly in the United States, both for Impact Wrestling and wrestling for the NJPW Strong offshoot. Last year’s Wrestle Kingdom show seems like such a long time ago. It was there that we saw White challenge Kota Ibushi for the IWGP Heavyweight Title and the IWGP Intercontinental Title. 2019 seems like decades ago, but that was the year White would surprise the wrestling world by defeating Hiroshi Tanahashi to become the IWGP Heavyweight Champion. He held the title for less than two months and saw zero title defenses, but he announced that he had arrived as a major player for the company. Once COVID came around and changed the world completely, a lot of his momentum came to a halt, but he’s far too talented to be kept on the back burner for long.
Darby Allin (Born on January 7th, 1993): He’s still in a very high-profile pairing with Sting. That’s nothing but good news for Darby right now. There’s plenty of buzz that AEW will eventually look to sign Jeff Hardy to pair him up with his brother once again. That’s also nothing but good news for Darby. Countless people, myself included, have called Darby the “next Jeff Hardy” for a couple years now, based on his alternative look and complete lack of concern for his own safety in his matches. Well, there’s certainly money to be made in having the “next Jeff Hardy” in a match/feud with the actual Jeff Hardy. Sting and Matt Hardy… yeah, yeah, whatever. Darby and Jeff, though… that’s where the intrigue is. Even if we don’t get it, for whatever reason, Darby remains one of the most popular members of the AEW roster. As the longest-reigning TNT Champion in the brief history of the title, it’s clear that he’s popular with the company, as well.
Pete Dunne (Born on January 31st, 1993): A few years back, there was a big debate about whether Pete Dunne or Tyler Bate would have the biggest career in North America. They’re both young and immensely talented, and they were able to showcase themselves on the WWE Network on multiple occasions. At one point, it looked like Bate would be the clear choice. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen him wrestle for the O.G. NXT since the pandemic began. That may or may not have to do with him wanting/needing to stay home, and not relocate to America, but hey, it is what it is. While it can be argued that Bate was never a big singles star for NXT, outside of those NXT United Kingdom Title matches, Dunne has worked his way into the main event scene for the brand. On top of that, he has also had more tag success in NXT than Bate did, holding the NXT Tag Team Titles (with Matt Riddle) for 86 days, compared to Bate holding the same titles (with Trent Seven) for 22 recognized days. Dunne has earned everything he has had in NXT, and on the verge of turning 29, he can still say he fits in with the “youth movement” that the brand has adopted recently. He could still be a player there for a while.
Mayu Iwatani (Born on February 19th, 1993): She’s a month or so away from her 29th birthday, but she has accomplished SO MUCH in Stardom, having made her debut 11 years ago. That makes it so strange to place her on lists like this where you look at how bright someone’s future might be. With Io Shirai leaving Stardom to sign with WWE in 2018, Iwatani has gone on to become the company’s brightest star, and is now, arguably, the best wrestler that Stardom has ever produced. The connection she has with fans is almost unmatched. Borrowing a quote from Cagematch.net poster kankan, Iwatani is parts “goofy airhead” and “brave fighter” at the same time, allowing her to come across as more of a “shonen protagonist” than the typical “puro ace.” That’s a perfect description of Mayu Iwatani, the “everywoman” star. When a new calendar year arrives, you already know that you’re going to see success for Iwatani. It’s just a matter of how much success you’ll see. There’s also the nagging questions and comments about whether or not she has done everything there is to do with Stardom, and if she should ply her craft elsewhere. She has seen success in Ring Of Honor in recent years, and if you believe Dave Meltzer, she was offered a WWE contract that she turned down, so it’s not like she isn’t on the radar of other companies. This is, in no way, me speculating that she’s leaving. I’m just mentioning the comments that you’ll see when someone has won as much as Mayu Iwatani has in Stardom.
Will Ospreay (Born on May 7th, 1993): As I type this, we’re mere minutes removed from Ospreay unsuccessfully trying to take the IWGP World Heavyweight Title from Kazuchika Okada on night two of New Japan’s Wrestle Kingdom 16 show. In my opinion, that doesn’t do much to “hurt” him and his standing. He has already completed the transition from Junior Heavyweight in New Japan to Heavyweight in New Japan. That’s two completely different divisions, with a completely different style of opponent. It’s not a transition that every Junior Heavyweight is able to pull off, but he did it with style, going on to win the IWGP World Heavyweight Title in April. His reign would come to an end after six weeks due to a neck injury he suffered, but he has shown that he can, and will, be a major player for the company moving forward.
Sammy Guevara (Born on July 28th, 1993): For the majority of Sammy’s time in AEW, he excelled as a smarmy heel. Many people wondered if he had what it takes to eventually work as a face. We would find out the answer to that is a resounding “yes.” His in-ring work features one of those exciting styles and movesets that plays out better as a face. Moving on from some bad writing (his feud with Matt Hardy) and stuff that wore out its welcome (Inner Circle feuding with The Pinnacle for just short of 39 consecutive years), Sammy has grown into becoming one of the top young stars on the roster. That’s a good place to be right now, as long as AEW can find a proper balance between pushing their own young talents to the top and pushing bigger “names” to the top.
Cameron Grimes (Born on September 30th, 1993): As always, when Cameron Grimes comes up in conversation, I am legally and contractually obligated to mention the fact that he almost broke my leg at an independent wrestling show a few years back. With that out of the way, I’m glad to see his increased success this year. Becoming the new “Million Dollar Man” and then actually interacting with the original “Million Dollar Man” himself was a lot of fun, and it concluded with him becoming the new Million Dollar Champion. While remaining a comedy act, he was then able to show more of a serious side to him in a feud with Duke Hudson. That was the only thing I felt was missing from his act. As we’ve seen in WWE through the years, acts that dabble in comedy can be at the top of the card, but acts that are solely involved in comedy generally have a ceiling that they can’t break through. I’ve worried that Grimes would be somewhat pigeonholed in NXT, and that it could carry over to any potential call-ups in the future. I’m not saying I need him to be Goldberg, taking himself as serious as a heart attack, but it couldn’t hurt to let his in-ring work shine more than his character work. He’s got the talent. I just want him to have a proper chance to show it.
Ilja Dragunov (Born on October 10th, 1993): Dragunov had a WALTER-sized roadblock that he needed to get through/over/around before he could be viewed as a true elite performer in the world of NXT UK. 2020 saw him reach the main event scene, but he wasn’t able to defeat the movie villain of a champion that the brand had. He was able to prove that he belonged, though, so when he placed himself right back in the title picture in 2021, people believed that he could finally beat the unbeatable. After their second consecutive Match Of The Year (to me), Dragunov would finally defeat WALTER to win the NXT UK Title. The only thing that really holds Dragunov back from receiving more acclaim is where NXT UK ranks on the global totem pole outside of the United Kingdom. The average wrestling fan, even those who are heavily into the WWE product over anything else, doesn’t watch much of NXT UK, if at all. If he had more appearances in NXT 2.0, that could go a long way, but international travel is an absolute mess these days, with no real end in sight. If you know, you know, though.
Omos (Born on May 16th, 1994): Here’s another wild card, as we haven’t exactly seen him work a ton of matches, but it’s clear that he has some backers in high places. He got a prime spot with AJ Styles, and then looked unbeatable from the start, basically beating Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods by himself at WrestleMania to win the Raw Tag Team Titles. Then, The Undertaker would go on record saying that Omos is as close as we’ve come to seeing Andre The Giant since Andre himself. Think about that. In the history of pro wrestling, there might not be two more respected names within the business than Andre The Giant and The Undertaker. If Taker speaks up and makes any sort of comparison at all between Andre and Omos, you’re a fool if you don’t think people take notice of that. Now that he and AJ have split up as a tag team, it will be very interesting to see how Omos is booked as a singles wrestler. Feuding with AJ will be a great way to make him look as good as possible, but will the feud be a vehicle to get Omos over as a monster, to get AJ over as a singles star again, or both? We’ll see. It could be an early gauge of what WWE sees for the future of the big guy.
Liv Morgan (Born on June 8th, 1994): In last year’s 30 Under 30, I mentioned the weird roller coaster ride that was Liv’s main roster tenure to that point. Some crazy highs involving The Riott Squad debuting strong and looking really good, but then also some crazy lows like Liv being lost in the shuffle once Ruby Riott went down with an injured knee. At the time, a reunited Liv and Ruby were involved in the WWE Women’s Tag Team Title picture, so things were looking up again. Well, clearly, that didn’t end up happening, and then Ruby Riott got released from her contract in June. When all could have been lost for Liv, the last seven months are when she has achieved the most singles success of her WWE career. She could be the new Raw Women’s Champion by the time this column gets posted. The WWE Universe has really started to rally around here, so she might be here to stay, even if she is unable to take the title off of Becky Lynch.
Deonna Purrazzo (Born on June 10th, 1994): Say whatever you want about this, but the only place Deonna Purrazzo hasn’t been successful is WWE. Pre-WWE (at least the official signing in 2018, and not the occasional matches for the company in years prior), she had some good runs in Ring Of Honor, Stardom and TNA. After not getting to do much in WWE, she would return to the world of Impact Wrestling, where she has really taken off. Within two months of returning, she won the Knockouts Title and became a major focus of the women’s division. Not only did it appear as though her in-ring work had improved, but she was wrestling with a confidence that wasn’t always evident before. She was a champion, but she also looked like one, and she carried herself like one. Her second Knockouts Title reign just came to an end before Halloween, clocking in at 343 days, making it the second-longest reign in the history of the title. While she was on top of the women’s division in Impact, she found time to climb the mountain elsewhere, defeating Faby Apache to win the AAA Reina de Reinas Title, which she still holds to this day. She is pretty much a completely different performer than the one that was seen on WWE and NXT programming, and it has benefitted her tremendously.
Carmelo Hayes (Born on August 1st, 1994): Christian Casanova was really making a name for himself in the northeastern part of the United States when he signed with WWE. As Carmelo Hayes, he showed a lot of potential from the beginning, posting an impressive debut performance for NXT when he answered Kushida’s open challenge for the Cruiserweight Title. It has been all uphill ever since. Less than three months after he debuted, he would win the NXT Breakout Tournament, granting him a title shot against the champion of his choosing. Four months after making his debut, he defeated Isaiah “Swerve” Scott to win the NXT North American Title, and has helped to elevate the title with his impressive in-ring work. This week, he defeated Roderick Strong to win the Cruiserweight Title, making him the belt’s final holder, as it was retired after the match. It isn’t exactly a wild prediction to say that he’s going to be competing for the NXT Championship in 2022. I’m here for it. There’s nobody in NXT like this man, and he has earned this push he’s receiving.
Bandido (Born on April 17th, 1995): In last year’s 30 Under 30, Bandido’s entry was filled with a ton of mystery. At the time, he was the PWG World Champion, one-third (with Flamita and Rey Horus) of the RoH Six-Man Tag Team Champions, as well as The Crash Heavyweight Champion. That’s cool and all, but with the world going to hell in a handbasket, he wasn’t getting to appear for those promotions at all, let alone as an active and defending champion. In the year since, he has been able to be more active, but not everywhere. He would wrestle for The Crash again, dropping their Heavyweight Title just after Halloween, wrapping his reign up at 713 days. He and the rest of MexiSquad would drop the RoH Six-Man Tag Titles, as well. If you’re looking for happier news in his 2021, he would defeat Rush in July to win the RoH World Title… only to be forced to vacate the title leading up to Final Battle in December because he tested positive for COVID. As one of the most talented performers in the business, he’s always going to have opportunities to be in the spotlight. With everything going on in the world, the only question is just how many opportunities he’ll be able to get.
Toni Storm (Born on October 19th, 1995): Admittedly, there might be an asterisk attached to this one now that she has been released from her WWE contract. Not because of her talent, but because we don’t know what’s next for her. Is she going to bolster the AEW women’s division? What about going to Impact, where Juice Robinson (her fiancé) has been working? How about going back to Japan, where both she and Juice have wrestled a lot through the years? Maybe she’s leaving the wrestling business to become a astrophysicist or to play Animal Crossing on Twitch all day. Who knows? As of right now, we don’t know what her plans here, but I’m keeping her listed tentatively.
MJF (Born on March 15th, 1996): He remains a very divisive figure in wrestling. You have the camp that swears up and down that MJF is the best heel in wrestling today because of the heat he draws simply for being alive, and you have the camp that swears up and down that he’s the most overrated heel in wrestling today because all he does is pick low-hanging fruit and verbalize YouTube troll comments from a decade ago. Honestly, it doesn’t really matter what camp you belong in, because AEW finds tremendous value in him. He hasn’t lost a singles match in five months, and hasn’t lost back-to-back matches, period, in his entire time with the company. The only thing missing during his time in AEW is title belts, as he is 0-2 in them, but you have to assume that will change and change soon.
Rhea Ripley (Born on October 11th, 1996): It has actually become pretty difficult to make any sort of predictions about Rhea Ripley’s future. She came out of nowhere to become one of the top performers in NXT, looking like she was on track to become one of the top performers on the WWE main roster. Then her momentum was stopped almost dead in its tracks and people began wondering if we’d ever see her regain it. She would then go on to officially debut on Raw and would win the Raw Women’s Title at WrestleMania 37, but the reign would be marred by what many felt were subpar matches against Asuka due to a perceived lack of in-ring chemistry between the two. When Rhea dropped the title to Charlotte Flair, people had flashbacks to her loss to Flair at WrestleMania 36, which was what put an end to her push in the first place. A pairing with Nikki A.S.H. was entertaining for what it was, and even with a WWE Women’s Tag Team Title reign for them, it did little to squash the complaints about how far Ripley had fallen. She’s simply too good, with a million-dollar look all of her own, to not rebound and become a major part of the women’s division on Raw. Becky Lynch is looking for new opponents. I’m just saying.
Tyler Bate (Born on March 7th, 1997): As I said earlier, the buzz that Tyler Bate had built has largely faded away. He hasn’t been seen on NXT television since the day before Halloween 2019. While he’s still doing a lot of good things for the NXT United Kingdom brand, it’s still not something that the average WWE fan knows anything about. That’s not his fault, of course, but it’s worth mentioning. Global travel restrictions are still a bit of a bitch, so who knows if/when Bate will wrestle in America again. As one of the most gifted performers in the business today, he’s still going to get mentioned in columns like this, no matter where he is. He’s simply too good to ignore. He and Trent Seven just won the NXT UK Tag Team Titles a month ago, and he spent a good chunk of 2021 as the NXT UK Heritage Cup holder, so perhaps the arrow is pointing in the right direction for him again. Personally, I’m waiting for what I feel is the inevitable showdown between Bate and Ilja Dragunov. Those two have never faced each other as WWE contracted performers, outside of being in a Battle Royal together, and have only faced each other in singles competition once (December 2018 at PROGRESS Chapter 80). Give it to me, WWE.
Gigi Dolin (Born on June 5th, 1997): When it comes to Gigi Dolin, the first thing that you’re going to notice is her look. Nobody in the world of mainstream pro wrestling looks like her. As soon as she appears on your screen, you take notice of her. That goes such a long way in an industry like professional wrestling. It’s not like she’s a complete dumpster fire in the ring, either. She has been a bit of a standout performer since the start of the Toxic Attraction stable with Mandy Rose and Jacy Jayne. Now, as one-half (with Jayne) of the NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions, there is an added spotlight on her and her work. There isn’t a need for some of the over-the-top antics that she had to resort to for buzz creation when she was on the independent scene. Even at her young age, it can be said that she’s the best in-ring worker of the Toxic Attraction trio, which only helps her stand out even more. WWE, from top to bottom, loves to “lean” on women who have that presence about them, and Gigi can be next-in-line for that kind of a push if the dominoes fall correctly.
Jungle Boy (Born on June 15th, 1997): I don’t think there’s any doubt that Jungle Boy is going to be something special in the future. He is easily one of the most over performers in all of AEW, garnering huge reactions in every city they perform in. 2021 was a big year for him, as it saw him rise to becoming a title contender. It started in April when he challenged for Darby Allin’s TNT Title. He was unsuccessful, but it was an incredibly entertaining match that helped solidify his spot on the map. Two months later, he challenged for Kenny Omega’s AEW World Title. It was another unsuccessful attempt at becoming a champion, but this match was even better than the Darby one. Two months later, he and Luchasaurus tried to take the AEW Tag Team Titles from The Young Bucks. Yet another unsuccessful attempt, but it was also yet another really good match. He continues to show that he is on the doorstep, just ready to kick the door down, but it hasn’t quite happened yet. When you combine his popularity with his high-quality performances in big-time matches, it’s only a matter of time before the door is off its hinges completely.
Austin Theory (Born on August 2nd, 1997): A few years back, when I first included Austin Theory in my 30 Under 30 series, people really questioned my decision. At the time, I said that Theory had everything Vince McMahon wants in a WWE Superstar, outside of his height. Not that 6’1″ is short, but let’s be real… if Austin Theory was 6’4″, he would’ve been WWE Champion by now. As it is, he’s a good looking kid with a million-dollar body and a championship bodybuilding background. For Vince, any sort of in-ring ability on top of that is merely the icing on the cake. Whether or not you enjoy the story being told, it should come as no surprise that Vince McMahon is “randomly” working with Theory on television now. That doesn’t guarantee success or anything, but it’s a certainly a good indicator, based on history, that Vince is high on somebody.
Bron Breakker (Born on October 24th, 1997): The brand new NXT Champion. It is important to remember that he’s still learning the business. I understand that he has a great professional wrestling bloodline, but he’s also someone that was playing football until 16 months ago. He has a grand total of nine televised matches in his NXT career, to go with five on WWE live events. That’s it. He’s getting better and more confident every single week. There’s really no telling how good he could be in a month, let alone at this point next year or five years from now. Bron joins the likes of Kurt Angle when it comes to discussing who “got it” fastest and easiest to start their wrestling careers. For the time being, the future appears to be now with the NXT 2.0 brand, as they have put a ton of their eggs in the Bron basket. Now that he has reached the top of the NXT mountain, I’m interested to see if the company allows him to be more of a “Steiner” than they have before. Instead of just hints, teases and Easter eggs, I’m wondering if his connections to wrestling past will be brought up. After NXT went off the air this week, Rick Steiner, who was sitting in the front row for the NXT Title match, got in the ring and celebrated with his son. The official NXT Twitter account posted the video and made the connection between the two, so it’s certainly a possibility.
Anna Jay (Born on July 15th, 1998): Here’s a woman who really doesn’t have a ton of in-ring experience, pretty much starting her career with AEW. I’ve watched her continue to grow as a performer, and have seen her make great strides from the time she first arrived in AEW in April 2020 to now. There is one thing that I worry about with her, and that’s an injury history. Before she had even made her in-ring debut, she would be forced to miss five months after a shoulder injury required surgery to fix. Then, at the start of 2021, she suffered another shoulder injury that required surgery and would knock her out of action for another six months. Since returning from her latest injury, she has put on some impressive performances, culminating in her final match of 2021, where she and Tay Conti defeated Penelope Ford and The Bunny on Rampage in one of the wildest Street Fights you’re going to see. She has a lot of momentum coming into 2022, and now that there are two women’s singles titles in AEW, the door is open for someone like her to use that momentum and propel herself to title victories.
Utami Hayashishita (Born on September 14th, 1998): In the Bron Breakker entry, I talked about how wrestlers like he and Kurt Angle just “got it” right off the bat, looking incredibly impressive from the very beginning of their pro wrestling careers. Over in Japan, you could say the same for Utami Hayashishita. In August 2018, she would have her debut match, going up against Jungle Kyona in Stardom. It would be rated as one of the best debut matches of all-time, and she has only gotten better since. She has become one of the more accomplished women on the Stardom roster in the three-and-a-half years that she’s been there, winning just about everything there is to win. Her phenomenal reign as the World Of Stardom Champion (the company’s top title) just came to an end on December 29th, giving her an impressive 409 days with the belt. The only knock people seem to have about her is that her personality and charisma may not be on the same level as a lot of the other top talents that have come and gone through Stardom. While I won’t sit here and say that doesn’t matter at all, I will say that it clearly doesn’t matter much to Stardom. As long as her matches continue to be excellent, and as long as she continues improving and adding to what may be the largest moveset in the business, she’s going to have a blindingly bright future.
Daniel Garcia (Born on September 17th, 1998): This is one of those entries that features someone who hasn’t exactly done much as far as what the “mainstream” audience has seen, so it’s all about potential. If AEW is your only history with Daniel Garcia, you may not think he belongs on a list like this. He has been with the company for just under a year-and-a-half and has largely been in the “win on Dark, lose on television” role. While he has been losing on Dynamite and Rampage, it’s what he’s doing in those losses that has my attention. He has taken Darby Allin to the limit twice, and has done the same to CM Punk and Eddie Kingston. There was also a main event match against Jon Moxley sprinkled in. AEW is allowing him to go out there and not just be an “enhancement talent” for bigger names. He’s a dangerous technical wrestler that wrestles with a lot of intensity. That part is fun. When you peel it back a bit more and look at his promos and his charisma, that’s where people begin to have problems with him. He just doesn’t seem comfortable in that area of wrestling, but that’s something that can come with time, experience and repetition. I think he’s in a good spot right now, in a place where he can continue to get those things and continue to grow.
Darius & Dante Martin (Different sites have different dates, but Darius is ranged from being born in 1998 to 1999, while Dante is from 2000 to 2001): Boy, oh, boy, has this entry changed since last year. Entering 2021, Top Flight was viewed as one of the most exciting young tag teams in AEW. Then, Darius went down with a knee injury, and hasn’t wrestled in over ten months. This could have really hurt his younger brother’s career, too, but instead, Dante Martin has gone on to become something of a singles star for the company. His matches were must-see, and he was all over the map, ranging from singles to a tag team with Matt Sydal to back to singles to a tag team with Lio Rush. His 2-5 singles record (5-9 overall) on AEW television after Darius got injured doesn’t look wildly impressive, but he makes up for it with a 20-3 singles record (24-3 overall) on Dark and Dark: Elevation. No matter where he is, he is in the spotlight, and he gets a chance to put on a show, win or lose. There has been no word on when Darius Martin will return to the ring, but I don’t see any way Top Flight won’t be in a more marquee spot than they were last year, barring Darius returning at a much lower level of quality than he delivered pre-injury. They can be title contenders right away when he comes back.
Hook (Born on May 4th, 1999): Well, the hype is certainly there, that’s for sure. Two matches into his career, and he’s on my 30 Under 30 list. Honestly, I still have no idea how much of social media’s obsession with the guy is legit, how much of it is trolling and how much of it is people just people going with what seems to be the “popular” thing to do. Does it really matter? A little, but not much. The fact of the matter is that, right now, this is someone who is one of the most over wrestlers in the business. If that continues, and if he continues improving and impressing in the ring, why wouldn’t he have a bright future? At this rate, AEW crowds are going to make Hook a World Champion in 2022, and I really won’t know what to think. The kid has skills. I will give him that much. We’ll have to see how those skills translate, and just what they translate to.
Cora Jade (Born on January 14th, 2001): When she first arrived on the scene in NXT, I didn’t think much of it. There wasn’t really any reason to. She was one of the many, many “debuts” for the NXT 2.0 rebrand, where it seemed like every other match or segment involved at least one person we had never seen before, or at least hadn’t seen much of. Before the rebrand, we saw Cora Jade wrestle exactly two times on NXT programming. Those two matches, both losses (one to Xia Li on February 10th of this year, and one to Franky Monet on May 25th), combined to last a total of 3:56. When she had her next match on the October 5th episode of NXT, a couple weeks after the rebrand, I didn’t even remember that she was there before. Then, she pulled off the upset victory over Monet. Two weeks later, she pulled off another upset, this time against Elektra Lopez. A month later, she defeated NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose in a non-title match. Two weeks later, she picked up the win for her team inside of War Games. Then a win over Dakota Kai, followed by a tag team win (with Raquel Gonzalez) over Io Shirai and Kay Lee Ray. Now, she competed for the NXT Women’s Title at New Year’s Evil. It’s a meteoric rise, especially considering she isn’t even old enough to legally buy alcohol yet. You think she’s getting a push like that for no reason? A small push, maybe, but this goes beyond a small push. She’s here to stay. Sorry, Darby.
There you have it, ReaderLand. My 30 Under 30 for 2022. As always, now I want to hear from you. Drop me a line in the comments section below, or on Twitter (@HustleTheSavage), and let me know what’s on your mind. Did I forget someone? Was someone included that shouldn’t be? Your list doesn’t have to be focused on the major promotions. You can tell me about so-and-so that has only wrestled in your town but looks like they could be a major star one day. I just want to hear from you.
Weekly Power Rankings (Again, due to time constraints, I’ll just list my rankings without posting any analysis. That analysis will return next week.)
- Bron Breakker
- Shingo Takagi vs Kazuchika Okada
- Kazuchika Okada vs Will Ospreay
- Roderick Strong vs Carmelo Hayes
- Becky Lynch vs Liv Morgan
- Big E vs Brock Lesnar vs Bobby Lashley vs Kevin Owens vs Seth Rollins
- Tay Conti & Anna Jay vs Penelope Ford & The Bunny
- Darby Allin vs Anthony Bowens
- Riddle & MSK vs Imperium
- The Usos vs The New Day
- Damian Priest vs Dolph Ziggler
- Cody Rhodes vs Ethan Page
- Hiroshi Tanahashi
- Big E vs Bobby Lashley vs Kevin Owens vs Seth Rollins
- Orange Cassidy, Chuck Taylor & Trent vs Adam Cole, Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly
- Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Is Returning
- Mandy Rose vs Raquel Gonzalez vs Cora Jade
- Thunder Rosa vs Jade Cargill
- Mercedes Martinez
- New Japan Returning To AXS TV
This Week’s Playlist: “Mannequins & Egos” by ZHU… “DIAMONDS” by Kamrin Houser… “Ready Or Not” by Fugees… “Fu-Gee-La” by Fugees… “Killing Me Softly With His Song” by Fugees… “Blue Angels” by Pras… “Maria Maria” by Santana & The Product G&B… “Warriors” by Ky-Mani Marley… “Cirice” by Ghost… “Majesty” by Ghost… “Absolution” by Ghost… “Square Hammer” by Ghost… “Take My Name” by Parmalee… “Truth About You” by Mitchell Tenpenny… “23” by Sam Hunt… “SEJODIOTO” by KAROL G… “Mares De Miel” by Alejandro Sanz… “Acura Integurl” by Frank Ocean… “Bedtime Story” by Frank Ocean… “Can’t Be The Last Time” by Frank Ocean… “If I’m In Love” by Frank Ocean… “Lonny (New Mix)” by Frank Ocean… “Swim Good” by Frank Ocean… “All The Shine” by Childish Gambino… “Redbone” by Childish Gambino
