I think that, other than Cabana, there's nobody in this bracket that you couldn't make an argument for or a story line around that would make them a
bad pick, but there are certainly guys that I think could do more for the title (or have the title do more for them) than others.
- Darby Allin = Jeff Hardy style fan favourite in the making, doesn't need the belt but it might push him over the edge as a big deal.
- Sammy Guevara = massive star in the making. I think this belt would be better on others at the moment though, purely because he's getting over without it and he doesn't have a character that should be losing titles this early in his establishment.
- Shawn Spears = if they have a "Horsemen" in the offing then this can be revealed in the tournament final, but that's the only reason I'd give him the win.
- Kip Sabian = the weakest argument of the bunch that isn't named Cabana. The one most in need of "something" but he shouldn't get it for exactly that reason. They need to establish the belt first.
- Dustin = Grizzled veteran on his last run. I could get behind a title run for him.
- Archer = I'm not a big fan tbh. Smashing through a tournament is a good way to establish his dominance but of the KES, DBS jnr would have been a bigger signing for them imo.
- Cabana = nope. (too young and happy for the grizzled vet, to much history to be considered good for the title)
And then there's
Cody.
I feel like Cody is very much trying to bring a lot of his dads ideology into AEW (not a bad thing at all) and, if he is that way inclined, then I feel like he'd be of the mindset that watching somebody work their way up the ladder, winning titles lower down the ranks as they move up, gives the fans more investment in that person than simply having them win "the big one". I think this at least part of the reason that he hasn't held the world title yet and I think I could see him on various talk shows as the "face" of the company with the TNT title in tow.
I don't know which way they'll go but for me the only good choices to establish the title would be Allin, Dustin or Cody and, if it were on me, I'd be giving Cody the win and a good 12 month title reign to establish it.
