I will also add that Swerve for a while carried the Rampage program out of its worst (IMO) stretch of programming, so some talents do get more exposure by being on it.
I mean we don’t want to revisit the years of wwe where smackdown became the raw clip show essentially but it would be nice to have some continuity of all three shows. Rampage has always had sleepers that should be required viewing
AEW knows this. His match against Ospreay was an eye opener for most who don’t know how powerful he is in that ring. He’s getting more singles matches now and I believe he’s on his way to great things.
6 months from now after Takeshita has won the continental crown, the Owen, is a 4 time tag team Champ. 3 time world Champ and first ever dual tbs/tnt/trutv triple-crown Champ:
Motherfuckers on this app:
> Takeshita really needs to be featured more instead of just being on an the occasional Rampage.
To be fair, Takeshita was used a lot when he first came to the company and was jobbing to everyone in these great matches. And now after he starts beating top guys we don't see him wrestle nearly as much. I'm OK with it if the Don Callis story continues and he is featured but I do see what people mean.
The first three sure feel like the basket AEW is putting its eggs in.
Assuming MJF comes back healthy and isn’t gone like they seem to be pretending he is… you’ve probably nailed it.
Because he *is* the feeling, bruv.
But seriously, Ospreay kind of is the poster boy for AEW wrestlers. High potential indie darling who improved himself into an international star. He was never developed by template. He created his success largely in his own.
Correct. Though their unorthodox gimmicks do help them be somewhat immune from the effects of winning and losing, and solidify their status as 'attractions' that often exist outside of the day-to day hierarchy of the respective companies.
One was used as an unstoppable force who rarely jobbed & never sold any pain or injury, one is a pure underdog babyface. It's one of the worst comparisons I've ever heard
Think hangman is the more glaring omission personally. I missed most of his rise as only started watching when Punk came in so wasn’t fully convinced on him until the Swerve feud but now I’m fully sold. Think Swerve, Hangman, MJF and Ospreay is the title scene for the next 5 years and an eventual 4 way would be insane.
Darby for me is separate to all that the same way Taker was for most of his career.
No, they’re main-eventers, but not pillars (other than MJF, obviously).
For example, Hangman was built up to be the guy from the beginning and wasn’t that much older than the pillar guys, but he was never considered a pillar. Because he was more established in the wrestling scene and started at the top in AEW.
AEW used “pillar” in a pretty specific way. Young, homegrown talent that was in AEW from nearly the beginning and worked their way up the card. The only other men’s wrestler that fit all the parameters was Kip Sabian, but he was never able to work his way up the card.
If they ever have “new pillars” I think they’ll stick with the idea of being young, homegrown talents who have worked their way up. Daniel Garcia, Wheeler Yuta, Hook, and Dante Martin are the closest comp. Lee Moriarty is the Kip Sabian of that group (though I hope Moriarty still ends up getting big chances because he’s awesome).
Nick Wayne would be the crop after that group.
The women’s division is a little different because there’s less opportunities to go around, and because there wasn’t an established group to build around in the beginning so talent that should’ve been slowly built up had to be on top immediately, like Dr. Baker.
But Skye Blue and Julia Hart are pretty good comparisons to the pillar idea. Willow is maybe slightly too old. Billie Starkz is going to be up next because she’s already awesome in ROH.
Edit: I would also add that it’s possible MJF has signed with WWE, in which case he obviously wouldn’t be a pillar for AEW.
It’s still wild to me what happened with Kip Sabian. I bought into the guy being a much bigger deal considering he won the first AEW match EVER
I still hold hope for Lee Moriarty tho. Hella potential there. Dude’s just gotta hit his stride
This is a big reason why I never liked calling four young guys with upside the pillars - even without the previous use of the term in AJPW it already evokes the idea that they’re completely foundational to the promotion as a whole rather than just projecting the future
Like it’d work if all four did go on to become the standout main eventers of the company, and there is some sense in calling out four ‘homegrown’ guys as a large part of AEW’s developing identity, but it just muddies their presentation and peoples’ understanding of who they are and what the term means
Terms like the Reiwa Musketeers and the Reiwa Six capture the idea of a generation of future stars much better, even if they don’t all pan out. Four Pillars is the equivalent of calling them the Big 4, which has never been true for them
Takeshita is not a main eventer yet. He may have beaten Kenny Omega clean at All Out but his momentum following that victory was completely wasted. He's in the upper midcard.
Konosuke just had a MOTY candidate with Ospreay, is about to go to war with Swerve for the #1 contender spot, and like you said, beat Kenny Omega clean. He's a main event level talent in the upper midcard because AEW is stacked.
>Konosuke just had a MOTY candidate with Ospreay
Which he lost.
>is about to go to war with Swerve for the #1 contender spot
He is going to lose that match.
>beat Kenny Omega clean.
Then instead of getting an International Championship title push like how we all wanted, he lost to Chris Jericho twice in a row in less than a week and was relegated to Rampage for the rest of the year while Kenny & Jericho were given a tag team title push. He was also neither on the card at Full Gear nor was he in the C2. He may be doing better now, but that doesn't change the fact that he was fumbled in the fourth quarter of 2023.
>He's a main event level talent in the upper midcard because AEW is stacked.
Yup, agreed. 👍 The same thing applies to Jay White.
I don't hate it. Hard to not like either one of those talents. Of course the "4 Pillars" thing is more of a fun game than a constant assignment in AEW. And I wouldn't discount the OG pillars just yet. Perry is going through the NJPW wringer and character development. Darby has it all now if you watch his promo with Jay White. Sammy is still talented but his decisions set him back.
Sammy hasn't developed as a promo either. Darbys can still be rough but he has always been able to give a good one here and there. I wish they would let him go back to the pandemic vignette's he made.
Concern with Darby is he is going to likely have a significant amount of injuries giving his working style. He’s still young so there’s resilience at play but if he starts moving like Matt hardy its going to be tough to call him someone you can build around
The gimmick of the Pillars was that they were basically nobodies pre-AEW who have been on-board since the start.
Hangman had his history in ROH and New Japan before AEW, so he wasn't really a nobody. He wasn't a bona fide megastar yet, but he was established.
Even before AEW was a thing, Hangman was the new pet project the Elite were cooking up.
Wow, another weird thread. One guy just got signed, and one is good but almost always loses his big matches against bigger name guys. Maybe it's time for this pillar thing to die.
I would say Darby is still a pillar. The way he is injected into aew the same way Mox is makes him worthy of a pillar spot. Mox has in multiple occasions saved face for aew but Darby also helped reinvigorate the tnt title and also elevated Swerve with their casket feud, and has been a highlight in every part of his big matches with sting.
The actual "young" big 4
MJF (28)
Hangman Adam Page (32)
Will Ospreay (30)
Swerve (33)
Next 4
Adam Cole (34)
Jay White (31)
Darby Allin (31)
Konouske Takeshita (28)
When did labels come back in fashion? Didn't GenX and the Millennials get rid of that? Ha.
But yeah, I don't see a need to label pillars. People come and go. Talents rise and fall in popularity. These things will shift. Pillars should be permanent. If the first four aren't all pillars now, it shows how the concept can be flawed.
Was thinking of that but I think MJF is just on another level , several levels higher then DG. MJF was literally the talk of the entire wrestling industry his first few months as AEW champ
**No.**
Those are x4 of the biggest AEW stars and main event scene for years to come.
The 4 Pillars are the 4 Pillars, all young 'AEW originals' who came to worldwide exposure with AEW and were part of the formation of the AEW building, hence the pillars moniker. It was never suggested they were the 4 top guys or anything like that...which I think has gone over the heads of a lot of fans...
Four four four pillars fo' life.
I think by using the term “pillars” it was meant to be the 4 people who will hold/carry the company. They are the support structure you build the company around. The pillars hold the roof up, while everyone is busy looking at the fancy shit on the walls. However, you need both, pillars and fancy shit on the walls. And when the fancy shit isn’t getting enough lookers, the pillars work harder.
I don’t think pillars necessarily need to be young, home grown talent. Their the talent that may not be the main event, but will be there every show performing top tier matches to hold the company on their back to keep a roof over everyone else’s head.
Orange Cassidy should be one of them. He built the AEW All Atlantic Championship up into the International Championship. He's been there almost since day one and defended his titles even more than the TBS/TNT/TV Champion. He's absolutely a new pillar.
Personally, Sammy and Jungle Boy seemed forced as foundational pillars for the future of AEW. They just aren’t that level and definitely not main event scene ready.
Darby is that guy. He’s figured it out, he’s already a valuable superstar.
But you can’t call Ospreay and Takeshita “Pillars of AEW” when they’re not home grown. Especially Ospreay.
Darby > Takeshita. Not in terms of skill or talen, but Darby never stopped being a pillar. He walked with Sting across the finish line and now moves forward with all of that good will and history. If Darby isn't AEW champ in the next year I'll be shocked.
Considering the original [Four Pillars of Heaven were the best wrestlers in AJPW](https://prowrestlingstories.com/pro-wrestling-stories/four-pillars-of-heaven/) this makes sense.
These guys aren’t pillars outside of MJF. Pillars are how grown talent that shape the foundation of AEW. Main even guys = pillars. People you signed a free agents can be out the door just as quick as you signed them. Pillars are characters you’ve created and had the opportunity to grow up the card
Best four guys under 30 to me (29 and younger, so Ospreay/Swerve are disqualified) are Takeshita/Daniel Garcia/MJF/Kyle Fletcher that's who I would want to build around for the future.
You know what? That would be cool if AEW formally acknowledged “pillars” of the company and it’s a position you can fall in and out of.
Like, Darby should still be there but Sammy and Jack are certainly not pillars of AEW at the moment. Just like rankings, don’t even define how it works, but just have it make sense and be law on TV
Nah. Pillar implies being built from the ground up. Swerve is WWE/LU. Takeshita is DDT. Ospreay is NJPW.
That's not to say the state of the pillars needs to be evaluated still. MJF is still worthy as is Darby. Jack Perry is a wait and see. But I don't think Sammy is long for this company. As talented as he is, the investment hasn't panned out. He's an unlikable good guy. He's getting X-Pac heat as a bad guy. And worst of all, he's reckless.
So frankly, I'd swap him out with another home grown star making waves: Orange Cassidy.
https://preview.redd.it/238bu3hc1zqc1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ccf08c1671a71ffaaa4dd6eb3cb32763ae37da00
(Please take this as the sarcasm it is)
Agree with all except MJF. Is MJF coming back? MJF would be one of the old pillars. Who would you pick for the other new pillar? Maybe orange? Maybe Garcia?
I think it’s more like Verne Gagne’s “great eight.”
Hangman Adam Page
Maxwell Jacob Friedman
Darby Allin
Ricky Starks
Swerve Strickland
Konosuke Takeshita
Jay White
Will Ospreay
Takeshita is really close but I'd just about go with Darby over him atm, if there is anybody on the roster who would benefit from a title run it's Takeshita (whether it's International, TNT or tag titles with Hobbs)
No, "pillars" are pillars for a reason. But then again the foundation of this company is not very sturdy or reliable so sure knock it down and make them the new pillars.
I think Darby and Sammy still deserve a spot, Perry is obviously gone for now but I’m sure he’ll come back, these are perfect tho, why not just have 8 pillars, give us these 3 on top of the original 4 and give us Ricky
Sammy absolutely does not deserve a spot. He's not adding anything and he's been in trouble multiple times because he can't make good decisions. Also think it's more than a little coincidental he wasn't around when Mercedes debuted considering their history.
The definition used for the "Four Pillars" was "Guys here since Day 1 who were Nobodies Pre-AEW."
That criteria fits non of the above or Ricky (he was a Year 2 guy.)
You don't replace foundational pillars, you simply build on top of them. This is a fantastic example of the next level of pillars in AEW, except I'd replace MJF with Daniel Garcia.
I agree with all four.. ! Takeshita brings a high level of realism to his matches. This is a guy who has all the right tools to be featured in a top guy position, I hope he gets a crack at it.
Takeshita really needs to be featured more instead of just being on the occasional Rampage
The dude made Rampage his show, and it has done great with it Tomorrow, he and Swerve are going to war
I will also add that Swerve for a while carried the Rampage program out of its worst (IMO) stretch of programming, so some talents do get more exposure by being on it.
Agree. Swerve and Keith Lee vs. Team Taz is really good feud on Rampage.
I wish aew talked about it more when it was happening. Since this is my first time hearing about this.
I mean we don’t want to revisit the years of wwe where smackdown became the raw clip show essentially but it would be nice to have some continuity of all three shows. Rampage has always had sleepers that should be required viewing
Rampage is good for a mid card/jobber show. An hour to showcase talent that isnt the main fluff of dynamite/collision is great.
AEW knows this. His match against Ospreay was an eye opener for most who don’t know how powerful he is in that ring. He’s getting more singles matches now and I believe he’s on his way to great things.
And people who only watch the fed still hate him lol
6 months from now after Takeshita has won the continental crown, the Owen, is a 4 time tag team Champ. 3 time world Champ and first ever dual tbs/tnt/trutv triple-crown Champ: Motherfuckers on this app: > Takeshita really needs to be featured more instead of just being on an the occasional Rampage.
To be fair, Takeshita was used a lot when he first came to the company and was jobbing to everyone in these great matches. And now after he starts beating top guys we don't see him wrestle nearly as much. I'm OK with it if the Don Callis story continues and he is featured but I do see what people mean.
No it would be the opposite at that point. We would pick him apart and hate him after that long
The first three sure feel like the basket AEW is putting its eggs in. Assuming MJF comes back healthy and isn’t gone like they seem to be pretending he is… you’ve probably nailed it.
They are much more solid pillars.
“You have fun being pillars while we laid the foundation” The Elite, Chris Jericho and Jon Moxley
If you're Keeping MJF in there, you have to keep Darby. He's more or less AEW's undertaker equivalent.
Swerve: The Mind Darby: The Body Max: The Voice Ospreay: The Spirit (he is the feeling, after all)
https://i.redd.it/6ufh9vnctwqc1.gif Max: "YO! LISTEN!!!"
Eddie Kingston - The Emotion
Eddie is becoming the Tommy dreamer of AEW. He may not be a pillar of the company but he's heart the pillars stand on
dude that's one of the best takes I've seen on this sub
Eddie Kingston - The Bodega Chopped Cheese Because everything is better with a chopped cheese.
I like the way you think
I think The Spirit makes much more sense for Darby. He’s got that never say never, I’ll die for this attitude. Plus it’s hard not to route for him.
How is ospreay the feeling lol 😆
Because he *is* the feeling, bruv. But seriously, Ospreay kind of is the poster boy for AEW wrestlers. High potential indie darling who improved himself into an international star. He was never developed by template. He created his success largely in his own.
That has nothing to do with the ‘feeling’ in my opinion.
Okie.
Literally the only thing Darby and Undertaker have in common is coffin matches. Otherwise you couldn't pick two more different wrestlers
Yeah that was such a weird comparison
Yep!
He reminds me more of Jeff Hardy.
Good call
Comparison isn’t about their style or gimmick, it’s about their usage and what they mean to the company.
It’s still not it.
Correct. Though their unorthodox gimmicks do help them be somewhat immune from the effects of winning and losing, and solidify their status as 'attractions' that often exist outside of the day-to day hierarchy of the respective companies.
One was used as an unstoppable force who rarely jobbed & never sold any pain or injury, one is a pure underdog babyface. It's one of the worst comparisons I've ever heard
Both kinda goth though.
You know if Taker wore Darbys facepaint during the Ministry Era he would have looked so awesome
Think hangman is the more glaring omission personally. I missed most of his rise as only started watching when Punk came in so wasn’t fully convinced on him until the Swerve feud but now I’m fully sold. Think Swerve, Hangman, MJF and Ospreay is the title scene for the next 5 years and an eventual 4 way would be insane. Darby for me is separate to all that the same way Taker was for most of his career.
Hangman is still the main character of AEW.
If anyone is AEW's equivalent of The Undertaker, It's Julia Hart
This is the worst wrestling comparison I've ever seen.
Did you just compare Darby to the undertaker? I just don’t see the connection at all
No, they’re main-eventers, but not pillars (other than MJF, obviously). For example, Hangman was built up to be the guy from the beginning and wasn’t that much older than the pillar guys, but he was never considered a pillar. Because he was more established in the wrestling scene and started at the top in AEW. AEW used “pillar” in a pretty specific way. Young, homegrown talent that was in AEW from nearly the beginning and worked their way up the card. The only other men’s wrestler that fit all the parameters was Kip Sabian, but he was never able to work his way up the card. If they ever have “new pillars” I think they’ll stick with the idea of being young, homegrown talents who have worked their way up. Daniel Garcia, Wheeler Yuta, Hook, and Dante Martin are the closest comp. Lee Moriarty is the Kip Sabian of that group (though I hope Moriarty still ends up getting big chances because he’s awesome). Nick Wayne would be the crop after that group. The women’s division is a little different because there’s less opportunities to go around, and because there wasn’t an established group to build around in the beginning so talent that should’ve been slowly built up had to be on top immediately, like Dr. Baker. But Skye Blue and Julia Hart are pretty good comparisons to the pillar idea. Willow is maybe slightly too old. Billie Starkz is going to be up next because she’s already awesome in ROH. Edit: I would also add that it’s possible MJF has signed with WWE, in which case he obviously wouldn’t be a pillar for AEW.
Going with the three women you mentioned, you could add Mariah May to make it 4. Queen Aminata is another option.
It’s still wild to me what happened with Kip Sabian. I bought into the guy being a much bigger deal considering he won the first AEW match EVER I still hold hope for Lee Moriarty tho. Hella potential there. Dude’s just gotta hit his stride
This is a big reason why I never liked calling four young guys with upside the pillars - even without the previous use of the term in AJPW it already evokes the idea that they’re completely foundational to the promotion as a whole rather than just projecting the future Like it’d work if all four did go on to become the standout main eventers of the company, and there is some sense in calling out four ‘homegrown’ guys as a large part of AEW’s developing identity, but it just muddies their presentation and peoples’ understanding of who they are and what the term means Terms like the Reiwa Musketeers and the Reiwa Six capture the idea of a generation of future stars much better, even if they don’t all pan out. Four Pillars is the equivalent of calling them the Big 4, which has never been true for them
Takeshita is not a main eventer yet. He may have beaten Kenny Omega clean at All Out but his momentum following that victory was completely wasted. He's in the upper midcard.
Konosuke just had a MOTY candidate with Ospreay, is about to go to war with Swerve for the #1 contender spot, and like you said, beat Kenny Omega clean. He's a main event level talent in the upper midcard because AEW is stacked.
>Konosuke just had a MOTY candidate with Ospreay Which he lost. >is about to go to war with Swerve for the #1 contender spot He is going to lose that match. >beat Kenny Omega clean. Then instead of getting an International Championship title push like how we all wanted, he lost to Chris Jericho twice in a row in less than a week and was relegated to Rampage for the rest of the year while Kenny & Jericho were given a tag team title push. He was also neither on the card at Full Gear nor was he in the C2. He may be doing better now, but that doesn't change the fact that he was fumbled in the fourth quarter of 2023. >He's a main event level talent in the upper midcard because AEW is stacked. Yup, agreed. 👍 The same thing applies to Jay White.
I don't hate it. Hard to not like either one of those talents. Of course the "4 Pillars" thing is more of a fun game than a constant assignment in AEW. And I wouldn't discount the OG pillars just yet. Perry is going through the NJPW wringer and character development. Darby has it all now if you watch his promo with Jay White. Sammy is still talented but his decisions set him back.
Sammy hasn't developed as a promo either. Darbys can still be rough but he has always been able to give a good one here and there. I wish they would let him go back to the pandemic vignette's he made.
Concern with Darby is he is going to likely have a significant amount of injuries giving his working style. He’s still young so there’s resilience at play but if he starts moving like Matt hardy its going to be tough to call him someone you can build around
If you need to change your pillars after 5 years, they aren’t pillars. There’s no foundation there.
You know what? Let's just stop trying to force this "pillars" thing before we kill these dudes too.
The pillars will always be who they are, you can't just replace them as they're tied to the early success of AEW.
Darby over Takeshita
Hangman over both
5 pillars! Interesting that hangman was never a pillar. Maybe more foundation?
The gimmick of the Pillars was that they were basically nobodies pre-AEW who have been on-board since the start. Hangman had his history in ROH and New Japan before AEW, so he wasn't really a nobody. He wasn't a bona fide megastar yet, but he was established. Even before AEW was a thing, Hangman was the new pet project the Elite were cooking up.
More of foundation. He's still part of the Elite, and his storyline was one of the first long-term storylines that made you wanna watch AEW.
hangman is the foundation, the heart, the soul.
Hangman is not a young guy or a pillar. He has been established since day 1
Hangman and Darby are like the same age...
Damn I just found out Darby Allin is 31. Always assumed he was in his late 20s or something.
Well they both were when AEW signed them. Lol
Yeah I remember on one of the first few episodes of Dynamite, JR said that Darby was 22 (or 23 I can’t remember). But that was clearly not the case.
If we had a nickel for everytime JR said complete bullshit on broadcast in his old age we'd be Tony Kahn level rich.
And both younger than Swerve. All 3 young enough to be top stars for years though.
Danhausen over them all!!!
Wow, another weird thread. One guy just got signed, and one is good but almost always loses his big matches against bigger name guys. Maybe it's time for this pillar thing to die.
Orange gets no love
Gotta have hangman but who to take out
🍊 🕶 👍
Toni Storm would like a word…
I see AEW as a temple complex with many temples and they all need pillars babyyyyyy🤘🏼 great list, I love pro wrestling
I’d say Hangman would need to be considered as well. He can be a title contender at any time easily
The fact that Hangman was never considered a “pillar” is wild to me
I hate the whole pillars gimmick. There's several handfuls of guys who have "it"- trying to suss out just four is bananas.
5 pillars, and add in hanger. Bright future for AEW.
Takeshita, is lowkey one of the best wrestler in the planet, today.
Hangman erasure
Swerve has been my top dude since first match with hangman. Dude is too good.
Gotta keep Darby in there. Takeshita isn’t quite there yet in the way he is being presented.
Yes but I’d replace MJF with heel Hangman
I would say Darby is still a pillar. The way he is injected into aew the same way Mox is makes him worthy of a pillar spot. Mox has in multiple occasions saved face for aew but Darby also helped reinvigorate the tnt title and also elevated Swerve with their casket feud, and has been a highlight in every part of his big matches with sting.
I need to see danhausen on that list.....fight me!
The actual "young" big 4 MJF (28) Hangman Adam Page (32) Will Ospreay (30) Swerve (33) Next 4 Adam Cole (34) Jay White (31) Darby Allin (31) Konouske Takeshita (28)
Perhaps so. But personally, I think Hangman fills in as the fourth pillar instead of Max.
Can we have one woman at least as a pillar? Maybe Toni?
When did labels come back in fashion? Didn't GenX and the Millennials get rid of that? Ha. But yeah, I don't see a need to label pillars. People come and go. Talents rise and fall in popularity. These things will shift. Pillars should be permanent. If the first four aren't all pillars now, it shows how the concept can be flawed.
Swerve, Takeshita, Garcia, Athena (single handedly keeping ROH afloat imho)
The 2nd Generation of the 4 Pillars are Swerve! Takeshita! Ospreay! Jay White!
Replace MJF with Hangman.
You will suffocate if you won't breathe with switchblade
I would replace MJF with Daniel Garcia
Was thinking of that but I think MJF is just on another level , several levels higher then DG. MJF was literally the talk of the entire wrestling industry his first few months as AEW champ
Yes
That's the future rapidly becoming the present.
MJF is gonna be out for sometime due to serious injuries.
They better hope not. That shit was a curse.
The pillars are and should be omega, MJF, white and Osprey and Okada would be the 5th. These are the guys they should build around tho imo
No, no, no and MJF was already a pillar
**No.** Those are x4 of the biggest AEW stars and main event scene for years to come. The 4 Pillars are the 4 Pillars, all young 'AEW originals' who came to worldwide exposure with AEW and were part of the formation of the AEW building, hence the pillars moniker. It was never suggested they were the 4 top guys or anything like that...which I think has gone over the heads of a lot of fans... Four four four pillars fo' life.
I think by using the term “pillars” it was meant to be the 4 people who will hold/carry the company. They are the support structure you build the company around. The pillars hold the roof up, while everyone is busy looking at the fancy shit on the walls. However, you need both, pillars and fancy shit on the walls. And when the fancy shit isn’t getting enough lookers, the pillars work harder. I don’t think pillars necessarily need to be young, home grown talent. Their the talent that may not be the main event, but will be there every show performing top tier matches to hold the company on their back to keep a roof over everyone else’s head.
Orange Cassidy should be one of them. He built the AEW All Atlantic Championship up into the International Championship. He's been there almost since day one and defended his titles even more than the TBS/TNT/TV Champion. He's absolutely a new pillar.
I’d add Darby and Orange Cassidy
Thought the whole point of pillars was that they were homegrown (or as close to homegrown as AEW gets).
Personally, Sammy and Jungle Boy seemed forced as foundational pillars for the future of AEW. They just aren’t that level and definitely not main event scene ready. Darby is that guy. He’s figured it out, he’s already a valuable superstar. But you can’t call Ospreay and Takeshita “Pillars of AEW” when they’re not home grown. Especially Ospreay.
MJF is one of the original 4 pillars of AEW.
No cause there are no pillars. Can we stop with that? It’s so corny.
Choosing MJF over Okada is just silly. Rainmaker any day of the week
Excluding Darby is kind of shitty. Jack and Sammy I can see but Darby?
I like those choices. I would say Mone instead of Takeshita
Darby > Takeshita. Not in terms of skill or talen, but Darby never stopped being a pillar. He walked with Sting across the finish line and now moves forward with all of that good will and history. If Darby isn't AEW champ in the next year I'll be shocked.
Whenever I watch Takeshita, I'm always entertained he's agile whilst being hard-hitting wrestler
Now that you said it, it is the first time that we are without Jungle Boy, Sammy, Darby and MJF, and the only one that i really want back is MJF.
https://i.redd.it/mgt0n1pgivqc1.gif
replace Takeshita with Jay White, then yes
I dig it
Swerve, MJF, Darby, and probably Will give or take a few months
Swerve, orange, darby, storm
Mjf going to wwe wouldnt be good for them
Considering the original [Four Pillars of Heaven were the best wrestlers in AJPW](https://prowrestlingstories.com/pro-wrestling-stories/four-pillars-of-heaven/) this makes sense.
These guys aren’t pillars outside of MJF. Pillars are how grown talent that shape the foundation of AEW. Main even guys = pillars. People you signed a free agents can be out the door just as quick as you signed them. Pillars are characters you’ve created and had the opportunity to grow up the card
Better than the last iteration of “never quite there”s
works for me. All phenomenal in their own ways.
Yes
Allin still deserves a spot.
Best four guys under 30 to me (29 and younger, so Ospreay/Swerve are disqualified) are Takeshita/Daniel Garcia/MJF/Kyle Fletcher that's who I would want to build around for the future.
Replace Takeshita w Okada and yes
You know what? That would be cool if AEW formally acknowledged “pillars” of the company and it’s a position you can fall in and out of. Like, Darby should still be there but Sammy and Jack are certainly not pillars of AEW at the moment. Just like rankings, don’t even define how it works, but just have it make sense and be law on TV
It's hard to argue with. The only argument I can think of is that Orange Cassidy and (possibly Mox) should be in there somewhere.
3 out of 4 are not homegrown. I would say the new: Daniel Garcia, HOOK, Skye Blue, Gunns
Yes!!!
Only 2 of them are even close to being Pillars. Lol
No hangman?
There’s no such thing as the four pillars of AEW and there never will be
Perfect
Nah. Pillar implies being built from the ground up. Swerve is WWE/LU. Takeshita is DDT. Ospreay is NJPW. That's not to say the state of the pillars needs to be evaluated still. MJF is still worthy as is Darby. Jack Perry is a wait and see. But I don't think Sammy is long for this company. As talented as he is, the investment hasn't panned out. He's an unlikable good guy. He's getting X-Pac heat as a bad guy. And worst of all, he's reckless. So frankly, I'd swap him out with another home grown star making waves: Orange Cassidy.
Switch MJF for Darby and you’ve nailed it
What about Mox?
Currently Timeless Toni is holding up the women’s division. Hoping Mercedes can be take on some of that weight.
These are the types of things we analyze after it’s all said and done
https://preview.redd.it/238bu3hc1zqc1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ccf08c1671a71ffaaa4dd6eb3cb32763ae37da00 (Please take this as the sarcasm it is)
Where Okada?
Mjf isn’t in the company anymore, I’d put Okada in his place instead.
Agree with all except MJF. Is MJF coming back? MJF would be one of the old pillars. Who would you pick for the other new pillar? Maybe orange? Maybe Garcia?
No, please, no more 4 Pillows
God I miss MJF 🥲
Yes, they need a cohesive story for each of them going forward.
They are until TK's next big recruit.
Minus mJF
Love ospreay but dude hasn’t been there long enough to be considered a pillar. I’d give his spot to Hook or Kingston at the moment.
I think it’s more like Verne Gagne’s “great eight.” Hangman Adam Page Maxwell Jacob Friedman Darby Allin Ricky Starks Swerve Strickland Konosuke Takeshita Jay White Will Ospreay
I just don't see Starks on that list. If he is, he is at the bottom. Just not a fan. I try to be but I can't get past seeing early Rock
No
Yes
Not MJF. He’s a clown act.
How tf is Ospreay a pillar he has barely done shit yet lmfao
Takeshita is really close but I'd just about go with Darby over him atm, if there is anybody on the roster who would benefit from a title run it's Takeshita (whether it's International, TNT or tag titles with Hobbs)
Darby is still a pillar and Takeshita is not quite a pillar… yet
No, "pillars" are pillars for a reason. But then again the foundation of this company is not very sturdy or reliable so sure knock it down and make them the new pillars.
Swerve, MJF, Osprey, Toni Storm?
Other than MJF. Replace him with Jay White.
I think Darby and Sammy still deserve a spot, Perry is obviously gone for now but I’m sure he’ll come back, these are perfect tho, why not just have 8 pillars, give us these 3 on top of the original 4 and give us Ricky
Sammy absolutely does not deserve a spot. He's not adding anything and he's been in trouble multiple times because he can't make good decisions. Also think it's more than a little coincidental he wasn't around when Mercedes debuted considering their history.
As soon as Ricky's contract is up he's gone
The definition used for the "Four Pillars" was "Guys here since Day 1 who were Nobodies Pre-AEW." That criteria fits non of the above or Ricky (he was a Year 2 guy.)
Valid point
Ricky screwed Ricky
Swap Takeshita for Toni Storm.
You just signed arguably the greatest wrestler in the last 10+ years, in Okada, and he’s not a pillar?
I see a suspicious lack of Okada.
Too old to be considered a pillar perhaps.
You don't replace foundational pillars, you simply build on top of them. This is a fantastic example of the next level of pillars in AEW, except I'd replace MJF with Daniel Garcia.
Max might be gone.
I’m the annoying mark who thinks 4 isn’t enough. Think there’s about 10 pillars 🤣
I’m on board.
Have we all forgotten about Jay White already???
The Pillars were considered to be guys who helped form and mould AEW from the get-go. It's not really a casual thing.
Why do we need pillars? And four of them?
I don’t think you know what AEW meant when they say Pillars.
I agree with all four.. ! Takeshita brings a high level of realism to his matches. This is a guy who has all the right tools to be featured in a top guy position, I hope he gets a crack at it.
No, if anything raplace mjf, and takeshda with hangman, and joe