AEW wish list: Give us Sting as tag team champion

It is that time of year for making wishes. Obviously, Santa Claus can’t wave a magic wand to make all our hopes and desires come true right away, so here are a few wish list items I’d love to see happen in AEW over the course of 2022.

Sting as tag team champion

I’ll admit that I shot too high last year hoping for Sting to win the AEW World Championship. (I am still holding out for Mike Tyson versus Shaquille O’Neal.) Sting winning tag team gold with Darby Allin is a more reasonable request. The two men have already demonstrated excellent chemistry to rank as one of the most exciting duos in AEW.

Sting & Allin are undefeated in tag team action at 5-0 during 2021, so they could easily parlay that momentum into the #1 ranking next year to challenge for the tag titles. There are so many intriguing matchups. I’d love to see Sting & Allin against the Lucha Bros, Jurassic Express, Young Bucks, Santana & Ortiz, Jon Moxley & Eddie Kingston, CM Punk & Bryan Danielson, Cody Rhodes & Dustin Rhodes, the list goes on. Even a reunion of Hangman Page and Kenny Omega would be bonkers for a match. The point is that the number of high-quality challengers are abundant for a lengthy reign at top.

In terms of Sting passing the torch, tag team action might be the more effective method over a singles match. For example, imagine Jungle Boy pinning Sting to win the tag team straps. That is the kind of moment that would springboard JB to the next level.

Hangman Page keeps the AEW World Championship all year

I was trying to think of who I would love to see dethrone Hangman Page for the AEW World Championship, but I realized that I still want Hangman to keep the gold for a long period of time. It feels right in his hands. Kenny Omega has the longest reign at 346 days. Hangman eclipsing that mark would be real cowboy shit.

AEW on TNT

Hangman has a steady diet of challengers available keep things fresh. I think Bryan Danielson, CM Punk, and Adam Cole will carry him through the first PPV in March. A big galoot like Brian Cage or Lance Archer on TV then Jon Moxley would be a nice challenge for the second PPV in May. Andrade and Malakai Black could be title contenders by then for TV with MJF getting a shot at the third PPV in September. That could set up a full-circle for a Full Gear rematch against Kenny Omega for the fourth PPV in November to show Hangman’s win over the Best Bout Machine was no fluke. That’s not even listing names like PAC, Fenix, Pentagon, Darby Allin, Jungle Boy, Sammy Guevara, Miro, Christian Cage, and Lio Rush who would all provide an entertaining match. There is a lot of variety available for AEW to produce compelling competitors for Hangman’s gold.

Dalton Castle’s entrance in front of a raucous crowd

With Ring of Honor on hiatus, their roster has become free agents. One of my guilty pleasures within ROH is watching Dalton Castle’s entrance. It is cheesy, ludicrous, and always puts a smile on my face.

Unfortunately, Castle’s entrance has taken a dip during COVID pandemic times. It’s not as exhilarating in front of a small crowd or empty arena. For that reason, I’d love to see Castle get one more chance to shine in the spotlight in front of AEW’s fun-loving capacity crowd.

If AEW did decide to sign Castle, I believe he has value more than only a wrestler. Castle could shine in managerial and commentary roles as well.

Los Ingobernables reunion

Andrade is an Idolo on an island in AEW. He has relationships of convenience with Malakai Black and the Pinnacle, but he has no true friends. When Andrade was feuding with Death Triangle, it felt like something bigger was in play. That story could be revisited with the arrival or Rush, Dragon Lee, and Dralistico to reform Los Ingobernables. Andrade and Rush were original members of the faction in CMLL.

El Siglo de Torreon

As cool as it would be to see a Los Ingobernables reunion, the real steal is getting Dragon Lee in the mix at AEW. Add in the NJPW relationship and perhaps we could see members of Los Ingobernables de Japón venture over as well. The current LIJ lineup includes Naito, Bushi, Sanada, Takahashi, and Takagi.

Too Fast Too Fuego challenging for the FTW title

One of the cheeky things AEW has done during their studio tapings for Dark is put popular stars under masks as new characters. Examples are Fuego 2 (not Cody Rhodes) and Infinito (not Bryan Danielson). When Fuego del Sol brought his son, Fuego 2, into the fold for tag team competition, they succeeded with a record of 2-0. Fuego del Sol even earned the ire of Taz with claims of coming for the FTW tag titles.

Cody, who denies he is Fuego 2, squashed any notion of that idea, to which Taz replied with hopes Fuego 2 turns on Fuego del Sol.

Too Fast Too Fuego versus Team Taz could be an amusing treat contained within the Dark studio world that wouldn’t affect stories on Dynamite and Rampage. After the disrespect that took place off-air when Cody won the TNT Championship, it might get us one step closer to Cody versus Hook in an unofficial capacity. I mean that is if Fuego 2 is actually Cody in disguise, which he’s clearly not, so AEW can ignore this, but they should still do it anyway.

What’s on your wish list for AEW in 2022?