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Hello and welcome to the AEW Power Rankings. This week's edition will be focussing on the Men's Division. These Power Rankings will rank AEW male wrestlers by analysis where they stand in the fictitious AEW landscape as presented through AEW programming. The rankings are written as if the writer is a sports journalist writing about the product as if it's real.
1. Kenny Omega
Kenny Omega sits atop the AEW mountain and it's without debate. He has held the title since December and has just taken the legs from under his biggest threat; Adam Page. Backed by six men, four of which are champions, he is a frightening man to duel with. However he has a new challenge appearing in the form of legendary, former World Champion, Christian Cage to deal with.
2. Miro
God's Favourite Champion is a terrifying prospect in AEW at the moment. Not because he is flanked by four Tag Team Champions but because of his iron grip on the TNT Championship and his devastation of recent TNT challengers in the ring. Add his religious certainty that his opponents need to be conquered and we have a frightfully remorseless TNT Champion that is a gargantuan mountain to conquer. Just ask Lee Johnson...
3. Christian Cage
The former World Champion is now the number one contender after working his way through the rankings. Upon reaching number one he immediately slipped the word 'elite' into his interview making it clear that he wouldn't be wasting any time. I considered placing Cage further down the rankings due to his unconvincingness as a threat to Omega. However upsets can happen. Will a wrestler with a 7-year absence up until this very year really topple AEW's current AEW World Championship? Only time will tell.
4. Malakai Black
A man with a 1-0 record in fourth? For real? Yes, and here is why... The former NXT Champion has only been in AEW for a few weeks and has already terrorised former 2-time TNT Champion to the stage that he may have retired. Not only did Black beat Cody, a man who is a former NWA Worlds Champion, ROH World Champion and IWGP US Champion but he did it in just over four minutes with with his foot on Cody's chest. A statement like this is almost never seen.
5. Darby Allin
This is the point at which wresters become difficult to place. Darby Allin is this high on the list because he is a ranked World Championship contender with a Singles record of 14-2 this year. These losses were to Miro and in a handicap match to the 'Men of the Year'. I would argue that a handicap match shouldn't count towards a wrestler's Singles record... The men ahead of him in the AEW Rankings are Christian Cage and Jungle Boy; the former probably has a World Championship match in the coming weeks therefore may slip down the rankings or become the champion and the latter has recently had a World Championship match which makes him a more probable TNT Championship contender. With the momentum and associations Darby has, makes him a very dangerous proposition for Kenny Omega, should it come to pass.
6. Lance Archer
This was another particularly difficult one to place. Before his destruction of Jon Moxley in a spectacular Texas Death Match, Lance Archer wasn't really going anywhere. He had been defeated by Miro in his challenge for theTNT Championship, his second challenge for that title and was nowhere near the World Championship picture. However a win over a champion like Moxley for a prestigious championship like the IWGP US Championship is a huge deal. However Archer now finds himself in a precarious position, he will be migrating over to NJPW US to defend his newly won belt against Japanese wrestling legend, Hiroshi Tanahashi. This is an unreal opportunity for Lance Archer to cement himself as a big deal but is also a huge challenge that may render him rudderless if he loses. Then there is the unknown threat of whatever Dan Lambert has in store for him.
7. Adam Page
Ranking a man who has just been banished from the AEW Rankings seventh is a big call, but here's why... Adam Page has spent a lot of 2021 around the top of the rankings and even plain in first position. Kenny Omega has gone to great lengths to avoid Page who seems to be able to recover from competitive and psychological set-backs. Page's path to the championship seems to be a never-ending one but the fact that he refused to back down from Kenny Omega in a seven on one situation bodes well for Page's potential of realigning himself and climbing up the mountain once again. Kenny Omega should not kid himself that Adam Page has been dealt with and his actions on the most recent AEW Dynamite suggests he is still as worried as ever about everyone's favourite cowboy.
8. MJF
At the beginning of 2020, MJF defeated Cody Rhodes and eventually challenged Jon Moxley for the AEW World Championship. However in the year 2021, Maxwell Jacob Friedman has only wrestled one singles match and a handful of tag matches and matches against the Inner Circle. He is only this high in the Power Rankings because it seems very much as if he will eventually come out on top of the legendary Chris Jericho. Jericho is putting himself through the wringer just to get to MJF. The last time this happened, MJF got the aforementioned win over Cody. MJF needs to dispense with this Jericho thing sooner rather than later and stop getting distracted with sidetracking feuds.
9. Chris Jericho
MJF's current foe has already bested three of MJF's challenges over the last three weeks; including a stacked deck against Spears, a brutal encounter with Nick Gage and a risky encounter with legendary foe, Juventud Guererra. If he can come out on top of MJF in this feud he will have a huge scalp under his belt and will be on a huge wave of momentum. What he would do with that is harder to discern but even at 50 you'd imagine Jericho would still have lofty ambitions.
10. Jon Moxley
At the beginning of 2021, Jon Moxley held two new but prestigious championships. Just over halfway through, Moxley has lost both and is having to deal with new-comers looking to make a name for themselves. With a newborn at home, it is understandable that the former AEW World Champion's focus isn't as laser-focused as once before. He has both strong potential upward and downward potential right now.
11. Jungle Boy
Jack Perry has already had a TNT Championship and a AEW World Championship shot this year. However with the TNT Championship having changed hands since his loss to Darby Allin, he may be able to translate his lofty AEW Rank into another title shot. Add that to the fact he is backed by Stunt, Luchasaurus and Christian, Jungle Boy is in a fascinating position.
12. Orange Cassidy
Orange Cassidy is a ranked competitor in the AEW Men's Division, however he has already had a title match at the last PPV. This makes it harder for him to challenge again but on the flip side he was not pinned in that match and Omega had to cheat to prevent Cassidy taking his title. Why only 12th then? Well this was over two months ago and Cassidy has been nowhere near the top of the card since.
13. Ricky Starks
Coming back from a long-term injury, Ricky Starks lifted the FTW Championship from Brian Cage and sent him packing from Team Taz. Now at the head of Team Taz, can Starks survive Brian Cage and be propelled by Team Taz into a legitimate championship picture.
14. Powerhouse Hobbs
Another Team Taz man, this one is ranked by AEW at number 5 with a 13-2 record in singles matches this year. Similarly to Starks, if he can withstand the coming fury from Brian Cage he will be in line for a championship match.
15. Andrade
With a 1-0 record, Andrade is not causing waves in AEW. He makes the number 15 spot here mainly due to his pedigree as a former NXT Champion and previous work in Japan and Mexico. One to keep an eye on rather than having achieved much in AEW as of yet.
16. Brian Cage
The Machine has spent a lot of this year either in or around the AEW Rankings Top 5, with a highlight coming in the form of a huge win over Adam Page. It will be fascinating to see where his fiery motivation takes him now.
17. Wardlow
Mr Mayhem has been picking up wins on Dark and Dark: Elevation and has a 6-1 singles record this year. Next week he has a match against Chris Jericho with the Inner Circle banned from ringside and MJF in his corner. This is a huge opportunity that would catapult him towards various title pictures if he picks up what would be the biggest win of his career.
18. Eddie Kingston
Kingston has been picking up singles wins on Dark as well as tag matches and multi-man matches, usually alongside, Jon Moxley. He has also managed to earn two AEW Tag Team Championship matches against the Young Bucks with two different partners over the last two months.
19. Pac
Pac earned an AEW World Championship match at Double or Nothing where Kenny Omega had to resort to cheating to stop Pac from tapping out Orange Cassidy. Additionally, Pac has started to build up some momentum again with wins on Dark.
20. Sammy Guevarra
Guevara picked up a decent win on Dynamite against Wheeler Yuta a few weeks ago, put in an impressive performance in a losing effort against MJF the week before and he scored the winning fall at Double or Nothing against the Pinnacle.
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