Starr: Who Are AEW’s Actual “Four Pillars?”

The self-proclaimed AEW Four Pillars discussion has made its rounds amongst the wrestling media. However, are they AEW’s real Four Pillars?

Multiple sources have weighed in on MJF’s “four pillar” promo from the 9/29/21 edition of AEW Dynamite.  During they early stages of his promo, MJF labeled the following four individuals as the standard-bearers and foundations of All Elite Wrestling: Jungle Boy, Sammy Guevara, Darby Allin, and MJF, himself.  As stated in his promo, these four have carried the torch of AEW’s company since its early inception and have continued to carry that torch as the company has grown in popularity and has gained more recognition to the public.

What makes this story rather intriguing is the manner in which Tony Khan responded to MJF’s promo on a recent podcast episode with Brandon Walker on Barstool Sports.  From MJF’s point of view, the general label of AEW’s Four Pillar athletes seems to reflect that of All Japan Pro Wrestling’s critically-acclaimed Four Pillars of Heaven that set the standard for the best overall in-ring wrestling product throughout the 1990s.  Those four wrestlers consist of: Akira Taue, Kenta Kobashi, Toshiaki Kawada, and Mitsuharu Misawa.  This original discussion of the “four pillars” idea revolves around the consensus that these four men were the best “in-ring workers” throughout All Japan in the 90s, having garnered more five-star ratings according to the Dave Meltzer Star Rating System than any group of wrestlers in history.  And while a subjective star rating scale seems murky when trying to define what constitutes as a company’s “top megastars,” there are a couple of key issues that come into play when comparing All Japan Pro Wrestling’s “Four Pillars” with All Elite Wrestling’s “Four Pillars.”

The first issue comes from the fact Tony Khan neither accepted, nor refuted, MJF’s statement of AEW’s Four Pillars.  Rather, he seemed to treat it as a subjective idealism with the recognition that MJF merely comprised an opinionated list as to whom he perceives as AEW’s four future guys.  However, Tony acknowledges, “There’s more than four pillars… we talked about Orange Cassidy, Dr. Britt Baker– we can talk about until we’re blue in the face.  Ricky Starks and Hangman Page.”  As the President of a major wrestling organization, acknowledging your top talent should be a crucial element of driving home the idea as to why people should pay money to see your product.  While Tony Khan recognizes Jungle Boy, Guevara, Allin, and MJF as the “building blocks of the company,” that does not necessarily translate to the vision of them collectively representing the future of the company.

The second issue with MJF’s definition of AEW’s Four Pillars is that it generally reflects the preconceived notion that Jungle Boy, Guevara, Allin, and MJF are all on an equal playing field of main event star caliber.  And while there certainly will be room for growth as these four men mature and develop as talents, the only thing that these four men have in common at the moment is a relative ring skill.  Excluding MJF from the picture as the one standout that seems to exemplify all the tools when it comes to being a major superstar in the industry, Jungle Boy, Darby Allin, and Sammy Guevara lack a lot of the “five-tool elements” that are commonly expected of top of the card, main event performers.  Discounting “ring ability,” their promo skills are mediocre at best.  Their levels of charisma vary according to their characters, but they do not currently emanate anything closely resembling a young Stone Cold Steve Austin or The Rock (whereas, a guy like Ricky Starks does).  Their “looks/physiques” are generally good, but detract by their lack of height and body mass.  And most importantly, with the exception of Guevara, there has not been much exploration with their versatility as characters.  Can all four men effectively flip between roles of babyface/heel?  Are they able to diversify their personalities?  Are they able to diversify their ring style to accommodate those character roles?  Even with a guy like Sammy Guevara (who has played both sides of the aisle since his debut with the company), he has not truly shown a variation in his ring style appropriate to his work as a heel and babyface.

A final issue with this assertion of AEW’s current Four Pillars is that, on a pointblank analysis of these four men on paper, how do these men all standout and differ from one another?  A successful wrestling company should be able to culminate and craft a roster of broad skills, looks, and ability in order to garner attention from casual, mainstream markets.  AEW has a large talent pool of young athletes, many of whom come in different shapes, sizes, and skills; a brief overview of this alleged Four Pillar system for AEW lacks two of these three key marketing tactics.  Again, excluding MJF from the picture– who by the way, is not a relatively “big guy” by his own right, Jungle Boy, Darby Allin, and Sammy Guevara are all very small and frail, weigh well under 200 lbs., and wrestle very similar styles.  And while it may seem unfair to judge these men’s physiques by today’s wrestling standards, when AEW has younger men under contract that exude charisma and potential like Powerhouse Hobbs, Ethan Page, Wardlow, and even “Hangman” Adam Page, why would these men not be included as part of AEW’s Four Pillars?  Why would they not diversify their alleged Four Pillar system by including someone that exudes main event level charisma, someone that works a different style, and someone that brings something different to the table?  This is not to offend Jungle Boy, Allin, Guevara, or MJF, but if the only precedent that is being set for AEW’s future generation consists of similar looking wrestlers that wrestle similar looking styles and lack many of the other tools of what it takes to be a “top guy” in the business, there is a major dilemma at hand.

Of course, the benefit for individuals like Jungle Boy, Guevara, and Allin is that they are young and can take the time to work and master the elements they are missing in that key tool system.  That said, there also has to be a recognition that, perhaps, there are other guys that may be better suited to fill those roles.  The self-proclaimed AEW Four Pillars, as per MJF, may hold water in the eyes of the modern wrestling audience, but it may be putting the cart before the horse to acknowledge all of these men as the “be all/end all” of AEW’s future generation.

Sources:

The Fabulous Rougeau’s . (2012, July 11). 5 tool wrestler. WrestleZone Forums. Retrieved November 16, 2021, from https://forums.wrestlezone.com/threads/5-tool-wrestler.221501/.

Mutter, E. (2021, October 15). Tony Khan responds to MJF listing the “four pillars” in AEW. Wrestling Inc. Retrieved November 16, 2021, from https://www.wrestlinginc.com/news/2021/10/tony-khan-says-there-are-more-than-just-four-pillars-in-aew/.

Podgorski, A. (2017, July 26). All Japan’s four pillars of heaven set the standard. Slam Wrestling. Retrieved November 16, 2021, from https://slamwrestling.net/index.php/2017/07/26/all-japans-four-pillars-of-heaven-set-the-standard/.