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Despite being established less than 12 months ago, the AEW TNT Championship has quickly become a prized possession for those select few All Elite Wrestling stars who have held the gold.
In addition to previous champions Cody Rhodes and Brodie Lee, current TNT Champion Darby Allin has seen his career sky rocket since winning the gold in November 2020.
With major events on the horizon, AEW fans are already trying to guess who will be the next AEW star to "step up" and claim the TNT Championship prize.
Let's take a closer look at 5 wrestlers that could win the AEW TNT Championship in 2021.
#5 Ricky Starks
Ironically, Ricky Starks made his AEW debut by challenging for the TNT Championship. "Absolute" was one of the first wrestlers from outside of AEW to challenge then-champion Cody Rhodes during The American Nightmare's weekly TNT Championship open challenge.
Despite being unsuccessful in his initial pursuit of the TNT Championship, the newsworthy performance was enough to convince AEW President Tony Khan to sign Ricky Starks to an AEW contract.
Since then, Starks has aligned himself with the likes of Taz, Brian Cage, Powerhouse Hobbs and Hook as members of the Team Taz faction on AEW Dynamite. Through the mentorship of an experienced former World Champion like The Human Suplex Machine, Ricky Starks has witnessed a steady rise up the card in All Elite Wrestling.
At the moment, Starks is mixing it up with the current TNT Champion Darby Allin and the icon Sting in AEW. This is just the latest development for the young talent who no doubt has an incredibly bright future in All Elite Wrestling.
TNT gold for Ricky Starks in AEW?
The next step for "Absolute" Ricky Starks in AEW is to capture championship gold. While Starks has regularly been competing in a tag team with Brian Cage, there's no doubt that Ricky Starks' future in AEW is as a singles competitor.
2021 may be the year that Ricky Starks turns potential into championship success. Given his ongoing feud with Darby Allin, perhaps Ricky Starks will capture the AEW TNT Championship sooner rather than later.
#4 Miro
Miro's career in AEW has certainly been curious to say the least so far. The former WWE Superstar known as Rusev was considered to be a major signing for AEW when he debuted in 2020.
For years, fans clamored to see Miro as a main event player in WWE. Despite being the number one merchandise seller at one time, fan cries fell on deaf ears with WWE management and officials. Instead of being treated like a main event superstar, Miro was stuck to being a mid-card talent with terrible storylines such as the Lana, Lashley and Rusev love triangle.
Therefore, once Miro arrived in AEW, fans were thrilled with the prospect that the Bulgarian Brute was finally going to get the main event "push" that he has always deserved. But in reality, it hasn't exactly worked out that way.
Since debuting in AEW, Miro has been paired with Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford. Dubbed "The Best Man" ahead of the couple's wedding, fans were willing to see how this storyline would play out. Unfortunately, in comparison to Rusev's booking in WWE, it feels as if not a lot has changed when it comes to the booking of Miro in AEW.
Miro is once again stuck in mid-card storylines that are over the top and involve concepts such as broken arcade machines, butlers, servants and rivals appearing out of wedding cakes. The promise of the dominant, main event wrestler seems a million miles away for Miro.
Solving Miro's problems with the AEW TNT Championship
Once his rivalry with Best Friends and Orange Cassidy has concluded, a feud with whomever the TNT Champion is for the gold in AEW may be the perfect remedy to solve Miro's booking issues in AEW.
Arguably Miro's strongest booking of his WWE career was when the former Rusev was undefeated for close to a year as the WWE United States Champion.
Perhaps AEW can follow a similar pattern and have Miro assert his dominance as an imposing, unbeatable monster with the TNT Championship. It would certainly be the kickstart to his AEW career that Miro desperately needs right now.
#3 Lance Archer
Lance Archer will always be tied to the AEW TNT Championship. The Murderhawk Monster competed in the tournament to crown the inaugural TNT Champion in 2020. Archer dominated through a field of AEW competitors until he was defeated by the eventual first AEW TNT Champion Cody Rhodes in the final of the tournament at Double or Nothing.
Despite the devastating defeat, Lance Archer has recovered in AEW by feuding with the likes of Eddie Kingston, eventually turning babyface in the process.
Mentored by professional wrestling icon and WWE Hall of Famer Jake "The Snake" Roberts, there's no doubt that Lance Archer can be a major player in AEW. Despite being 44 years of age, there is still a plethora of potential for what Archer can achieve moving forward in his career.
Redemption in capturing the AEW TNT Championship
Now that the dominant Murderhawk Monster has turned into a babyface in AEW, it has certainly opened a new pool of opponents to face off against and has breathed new life into Lance Archer's on-screen persona.
However, perhaps the key to taking Lance Archer to the next level in AEW is by rewriting his greatest failure in the promotion to date, his TNT Championship loss to Cody Rhodes at Double or Nothing in 2020.
By capturing the AEW TNT Championship, not only would Lance Archer rewrite the wrong of his past championship defeat, but it would also catapult Lance Archer back into the main event spotlight that The Murderhawk Monster desperately needs to be in.
#2 Rey Fenix
Rey Fenix's potential in AEW is unlimited. While it may be cliche to say, the sky truly is the limit for Rey Fenix in All Elite Wrestling.
The younger brother of Pentagon Jr., Rey Fenix truly has it all. Some of the things that the luchador is able to do inside of the squared circle truly bend the laws of physics and boggle the mind.
At only 30 years old, there is still so much growth and development that Rey Fenix is set to undergo during his AEW career. However, eventually one must turn potential into results and ability. An AEW TNT Championship reign could be just what is needed for Rey Fenix in the next steps of his development in AEW.
AEW's answer to Rey Mysterio?
While Rey Fenix has mainly competed in tag teams with his brother Pentagon Jr. and Death Triangle team-mate PAC during his AEW career so far, Fenix's money is as a singles talent.
Many comparisons are always made between young luchadors and professional wrestling icon Rey Mysterio when discussing who is going to be the next high-flying, masked babyface megastar in North America. There is no doubt that Rey Fenix can be "that guy" for AEW.
The perfect way to begin Rey Fenix's ascension to AEW's main event level could be with an AEW TNT Championship reign. Throughout history we have seen legends and icons of the industry begin their main event rise to stardom by winning a mid-card championship. Examples include Shawn Michaels with the Intercontinental Championship and John Cena with the United States Championship. By winning the AEW TNT Championship, Rey Fenix could begin his journey to becoming the major player in AEW that he is destined to be.
#1 "Hangman" Adam Page
Hangman Page is the "nearly man" of AEW. He was defeated by Chris Jericho at All Out in 2019 to become the inaugural AEW World Champion. After the defeat, Page floundered on AEW Dynamite before embracing a new, darker attitude and distancing himself from The Elite.
This new persona included downing post-match beers from fans in attendance after matches on AEW Dynamite every week, which transformed Hangman into one of the most popular stars on the AEW roster.
However, due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, crowds disappeared and the strong reactions and cult following Hangman developed followed suit.
Now, it can't be ignored that Hangman Page has achieved moderate success in AEW to date. A lengthy AEW World Tag Team Championship reign with Kenny Omega was certainly a high point. But it's this long craved singles success that Page is yet to achieve in All Elite Wrestling.
"Stepping up" to the next level with the AEW TNT Championship
Perhaps the AEW TNT Championship is just the spark that Hangman Page needs to take his career to the next level in All Elite Wrestling. Many suggested that when he competed against Jericho at All Out in 2019, Hangman Page wasn't ready for the main event spotlight that he found himself in.
Two years later there's no doubt that Hangman has improved his all-around game significantly. Regardless, it appears that he's still missing something. Perhaps that "something" is a major singles Championship to solidify his place as a major player in AEW. By capturing the AEW TNT Championship, Hangman Page can finally put to rest the doubts that he isn't ready or capable of competing at a main event level.
Hangman Page would be the perfect star to use the TNT Championship to propel himself into the AEW World Championship picture.
