Tony Khan Names AEW Star "To Keep An Eye On" In 2022
In an interview with CBS Sports, AEW President Tony Khan was asked which young AEW star he would like to push in 2022. While there's a number of talented young wrestlers in AEW, Tony Khan suggested someone who spent most of 2021 hurt.
"I think for a variety of reasons, there's a number of people I'm excited to feature in the coming year," Khan said. "For example, it was completely out of everyone's control, but Darius Martin has been out injured and I think he's tremendous. I would love to get him back soon and teaming with his brother, Dante. Dante has become a big star and I think they were tremendous as a tag team.
"When the injury happened, Darius was 21 and Dante was 19. Now Dante is 20 and has been featured so much on Dynamite and Rampage and has now been a main eventer on Dynamite. When Darius comes back, I think he's somebody that could come in and be great for us. So I'm really excited about him in particular. That's an important name to keep an eye on."
Tony Khan was also asked if he had the next four AEW World Champions planned, as has been speculated about AEW's first four World Champions. He indicated that was more difficult now (in a good way) due to AEW's expanded roster.
"I think a lot has changed in recent months and some huge stars have come into AEW," Khan said. "The No. 1 contender now is Bryan Danielson. I think that's the biggest rivalry in AEW and maybe all of wrestling right now. Bryan Danielson vs. Hangman Page. Bryan Danielson, I can tell you officially as the rankings committee, Bryan Danielson is still the No. 1 contender, and I'm very excited for the resolution of this situation.
"So any plans that we might've had in advance really have to go out the window when you have such a great No. 1 contender stepping into the situation. And so many other huge wrestlers have joined AEW just in recent months. Huge names like CM Punk, Adam Cole, Malakai Black, Andrade El Idolo and many others. There is a great title picture and a lot of other great wrestlers in AEW who I think could be great champions like PAC, MJF, Jungle Boy, Sammy Guevara, Darby Allin and so many other great wrestlers potentially who could step up."