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Hello friends. Welcome to this week's edition of the AEW Power Rankings. After focusing on the how well the factions of AEW have been doing in last weeks rankings, this week we look at the Men's singles division of All Elite Wrestling.
These rankings are done in kayfabe taking into account each wrestlers role in the world of AEW, their recent records, rankings, strength of schedule and also the AEW Metrics system by our new contributor Brian J. McDonald, so here we go....
#1- Kenny Omega
The No.1 in the 2021 PWI 500 is still at the number one spot in PWM's Power Rankings. The holder of "Big Platinum" beat Christian at All Out and his draw against former WWE Champion Bryan Danielson at Arthur Ashe Stadium has solidified his claim as the best wrestler in professional wrestling today. But challenges await the Hall Of Famer in the next 6 weeks with the winner of the Casino Ladder match Hangman Page now in line for a title match and Bryan Danielson still looking for a rematch after Dynamite: Grand Slam.
#2- Bryan Danielson
Since his first appearance in AEW at All Out, Bryan Danielson has made his priorities Kenny Omega, The Elite and the AEW World Championship. His time limit draw against Kenny Omega was one of the best matches of the year and left the AEW fans with more questions than answers. The main one being what if the time limit was 60 minutes instead of 30? A question Bryan wants the answer to with the challenge to Kenny for another match. Whether or not that match happens soon we'll see, especially with Adam Page's emergence as the No. 1 Contender but should Bryan carry on where he started with a victory over Nick Jackson on Rampage in Rochester, a title shot against either Omega or Page will happen sooner rather than later.
#3- Hangman Page
Page's return on the anniversary episode of Dynamite saw him cement his spot to be next in line for a shot at the AEW Title when he won the Casino Ladder Match outlasting some of the best in AEW. It'll be the first time Page will fight for the World title since his defeat in the inaugural AEW Championship contest at All Out 2019. The question is, can Page finally win the big one? Can Hangman beat Omega for the first time in his career and win his first world title? Or will Page once again fail on the big occasion? The AEW fans are desperate for Page to win but the truth is Omega will start the favourite for their match but Page does have a habit of avenging losses in his AEW career. One thing for certain is that it will be a all-time classic.
#4- CM Punk
You wouldn't have thought that CM Punk had been away from the squared circle for seven years judging from his first 5 weeks back in action. Wins over Darby Allin, Powerhouse Hobbs and Daniel Garcia has got Punk to 3-0 but sterner tests will have to come from others in the race to the top 5 of the AEW rankings and with multiple wrestlers who have won world titles in the seven years in between the 2014 Royal Rumble and The First Dance potentially in Punk's future, Chicago's favourite son might need get out of the "lovefest" and activate the Punk that has won multiple world titles to get past his future challenges.
#5- Sammy Guevara
We expect Sammy to be busy after his TNT title victory over Miro in Rochester with the expected responsibilities that come with being TNT Champion. Whether we see Sammy defend the title as often the first champion Cody is something we'll find out in due time but what will come for "The Spanish God" will be the toughest challenge in his young career. But if he can put performances akin to the one he put in against Bobby Fish going forward, it should be a fun reign from the Inner Circle member.
#6- Malakai Black
Since our last power rankings, Malakai has dominated the American Nightmare family to the point where Arn Anderson has had a breakdown (how else do you explain his story about what he would do with carjackers and him setting a fire in Cody's garden). But Malakai has come out and said he has decided to move onto new adventures and judging by Dynamite, he has decided to move onto Dante Martin. The Alkmaar native should live up to his favourite tag in the contest and it'll be another notch to his AEW resume but he'll need to beat AEW wrestlers with better W-L records to climb the rankings.
#7- Jon Moxley
The second ever AEW World Champion has spent his last couple of months getting annoyed by various things happening in AEW and being driven crazy by his daughter. He has also been beating over 50-year old's in the shape of Satoshi Kojima and Minoru Suzuki and while Mox beat emerging star Daniel Garcia at "The First Dance", he has not beaten a AEW full time contracted star since beating Nick Comoroto on January 20th. Yet he came close to getting a shot at the World Title only to be knocked off the ladder by Hangman Page on the cowboy's ascent to the No.1 Contender slot. What Moxley does next will be fascinating with fans and writers wondering if a change in Mox's status in AEW's face/heel divide is imminent. But to climb the rankings and get the shot at Big Platinum, Mox is going to need knock off some big names in AEW.
#8- Miro
How "The Redeemer" reacts to the biggest setback of his AEW career will be something to watch over the next few weeks. The weeks before Sammy Guevara's upset win over Miro saw Plovdiv's finest dominate his opponents Eddie Kingston and Fuego Del Sol despite his troubles with the DDT move. So what next for Miro? Will he make a beeline for the AEW World Title and attempt to become the first person to win the AEW World Title and TNT Title or will he try and avenge his sole singles loss in AEW?
#9- Adam Cole
Since his arrival in AEW and his reunion with The Elite, Adam Cole has carried on where he left off in NXT with wins over Frankie Kazarian and Jungle Boy. It looks like Adam is loving life in All Elite Wrestling but Adam's ceiling might be be dependent on what happens with the Omega-Page title match. As long as Kenny is champion, Adam Cole is probably not going to get an opportunity at the World Title. If Hangman wins, Adam's path to the No.1 Contendership becomes clearer. Not that I'm trying to cause any dissension in the ranks of AEW's No.1 faction of course.
#10- Darby Allin
Losing the biggest match in his career could have been a major problem for Darby. But since losing to CM Punk at All Out, the protege of Sting has won both his singles matches against Shawn Spears and Nick Comoroto but Darby has a problem to deal with in a MJF who is still scorned from his defeat to Chris Jericho at All Out. Maxwell's vile comments about tragic happenings in Darby's past failed to rile the Washington state native but the actions of MJF and his Pinnacle teammates has temporarily put Darby out of action but you would expect Allin to be back and an one-on-one match between two of the Four Pillars of AEW's future is surely due soon.
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