This is my first year-long AEW Predictions article. I wanted to do one last year, but I wanted to watch a little more to get a better feel for things. AEW has all of the momentum at the moment and I’m interested to see where they’re at when the calendar rolls around next year. In comparison to WWE, I think WWE yields itself to a little more unpredictability, which is definitely fun in itself. AEW is quite a bit more predictable, but despite that, they’re quite a bit more exciting on a week-to-week basis. A lot can happen over the course of a year, but to be fair, will AEW do anything to genuinely shock us? We’ll see. Just like my WWE Predictions article, I will give the current state of said company. This is a general opinion of how I think the company is doing now right now and how I think they will fare over the course of the year. Then, I will provide 5 main talking points of interest that could be prevalent throughout the year. Lastly, I will jot down 10 bold predictions for AEW in 2022. I don’t think they’ll be quite as bold as my WWE predictions, but I’ll do my best. Here we go, let’s dive in.

Current State of AEW

How would I currently characterize AEW in present time? A company, once on the rise, that is now ready to take over the wrestling world. AEW is the coolest wrestling product available at the moment and things aren’t likely to change in 2022. On a major scale, AEW hasn’t missed their mark with anything. Granted, they’re not a perfect promotion and you’re definitely not going to please all fans, but AEW has a little something for everybody and that’s why they’re so successful.

The biggest point of concern for me is their ever-growing roster. Things are always great starting out, but if you sign too many people, there are too many mouths to feed with a limited amount of food. Talent will grow increasingly frustrated and move on. I don’t think it’s an issue right now, but it could be. For 2022, I expect them to continue their great run of wonderful weekly content. I also expect them to gain more notoriety with the help of guys like Bryan Danielson and CM Punk, who will continue to not only compete at a high level but elevate the younger stars in the company.

Will We See More Belts Added to AEW in 2022?

The TBS Championship will be the newest belt added to AEW on this week’s episode of Dynamite, but will there be any more added this year? I think there will be. The one with the most potential will likely be the Trios Championship. AEW is loaded with factions and with an ever-growing roster, they have no choice but to put newly signed talent in a group. A Trios Championship will give a little more value to 6-man tag matches and will give an extra opportunity for more talent to get TV time. Right off the bat, I think a great match for the belts would be The Elite vs. The Undisputed. It wouldn’t get much better than that. I have to be honest though, I didn’t love the idea of a trios belt, but I think it makes sense now. We’ll see if it comes to fruition in 2022, but other than that, I can’t see AEW adding any more legitimate belts.

Is the AEW Women’s Division Strong Enough?

When AEW was starting on TV back in 2019, this was a glaring concern. Fans weren’t sure if the women’s division was going to be good and they weren’t featured hardly at all in the beginning. We’re seeing more and more women’s matches now and I think this is hardly a concern in 2022. 2 or 3 years ago, a lot of the women’s wrestlers were green. They weren’t used to working on TV and they had raw talent. Now, most of the are good-to-great in the ring. Britt Baker has emerged as the top of the food chain and the gap isn’t nearly as far as it was 6 months ago. The Lights-Out Match from Thunder Rosa and Baker was the real turning point for the Women’s division and honestly, I think it may have been the greatest women’s match of all-time. The TBS Championship will be a great thing as well. It will give women more of a shot to get TV time, instead of AEW Dark matches on YouTube. To answer the question, there should be no worries about the AEW Women’s Division in 2022. I think there will be a lot of great feuds.

The Video Game

Not a prediction, but the new AEW Video Game is slated to be released some time in 2022 and I think I can speak for most AEW fans when I say, I can’t wait for its release. What does this have to do with the big-picture though? When AEW started, one of their biggest goals for the new promotion was to release a console video game that would put WWE’s 2K series to shame. I may have exaggerated a little bit, but not unlike their TV product, their video game product will be directly compared to WWE. Every once in a while, I will just look at the AEW roster and just dream of playing the video game. There hasn’t been any more news on the release lately, but hopefully we don’t have to wait too long to get the chance to log some hours on the controller.

Who Will Be the Breakout Star of 2022?

This is tough. In the early stages of AEW, you could make the case for multiple MVP candidates each year, so it is difficult to pin just one person. Since the start, I would say Kenny Omega has probably been the most valuable performer for the brand in general. Now you have Bryan Danielson, CM Punk and a slew of younger talent that have been properly built up. For 2022, my pick of who I think will break through this year and I may be making things a little easy on me here, but I’m going with MJF. Everything that has led up to the 2022 leads me to believe that this year will be the Year of MJF. MJF needed very little help to get to where he is at right now. In the beginning stages of AEW, like many other performers, he was a little green in the ring, but that isn’t in doubt any more. He is one of the best that AEW has to offer and that is saying something. There are a lot of potential ways that they can take him to the top and that is a strong advantage for a younger talent. MJF will be the top dog in 2022 and despite the swerve he is trying to pull with his contract terms, he should be the face of AEW for a very long time.

I didn’t do this for the WWE article, but I think I can start it with AEW. I want to predict a women’s breakout star also. Britt Baker dominated 2021 and honestly, I can see her continuing that in 2022, but if there is one woman who can take her down, It’s Thunder Rosa. Even though Thunder Rosa hasn’t officially been a member of AEW for very long (since July 2021), she has been on AEW TV for quite a while. I personally think she is the best in-ring performer in the women’s division and that will be even more evident this year. It would honestly surprise me if Thunder Rosa doesn’t win the AEW Women’s Championship this year. She has done more than enough to warrant a title shot and I think we’ll get that pretty soon. Even though Thunder Rosa is my breakout pick, I think Tay Conti and Anna Jay are going to have a big year as well. That Street Fight they had on Rampage last week was incredible. They put on a show and I seriously can’t believe it didn’t end the show. They have main event potential in the future and I don’t think it will be in the distant future either.

Will They Add More PPVs in 2022?

The short answer here is not likely, but who knows? They have had great success with their PPV buys and I can’t say that I have not gotten my money’s worth buying an AEW PPV. They have all been very good-to-great. I think the 4 PPV formula works great. With WWE, the extra PPVs become lost in the shuffle a bit and the value of the big PPVs seem a little more diminished. At first, I wasn’t a big fan of the TV specials that were disguised as PPV events because I thought it was a pissing contest between NXT and AEW for lack of a better word, but they have grown on me. I like that I don’t have to pay extra for big matches that are on TV virtually every week. I don’t think there will be more PPVs for 2022, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they add a couple within the next 2-5 years.

Bold Predictions

- CM Punk will leave All Out with the AEW World Championship

- Scorpio Sky will become the first 2-time AEW Tag Team Champion in 2022

- Eddie Kingston will be TNT Champion at some point in 2022

- Wardlow will get a shot at the AEW World Championship before MJF this year

- Despite this, MJF will end the year as Champion

- There will be 5 or more title changes for the TBS Championship

- Britt Baker will lose the AEW Women’s Championship in 2022, but become the first 2-time champ

- Hook will be the FTW Champion by the end of the year

- Rampage will become a 2-hour show in 2022

- Bryan Danielson will hold the AEW World Championship for the most days in 2022

Yacs

AEW Predictions for 2022