5 wrestlers who could win the AEW TNT Championship in 2021
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.