The year 2026 has been a very good for AEW.
Their weekly TV has received regular praise for maintaining a consistent quality. Dynamite in 2026 has played host to major moments in AEW history, including two world title changes, while Collision continues to be the show for “the sickos” wanting two hours of some of the best and purest in-ring wrestling on TV.
On the pay-per-view side, all four shows thus far in 2026 have been hailed as being among the best in company history. Double or Nothing and Forbidden Door, in particular, are both among AEW’s top ten highest-rated shows by fans on Cagematch.
The roster may be the strongest it has ever been, as well, with the wealth of talent and names dotting AEW’s men’s and women’s divisions. But more importantly, a large majority of the roster is over with crowds to some degree, giving AEW the flexibility to put a wider variety of people on either of its weekly shows even if someone hasn’t appeared for several weeks.
One name in particular has been a standout in 2026, having a career year after their first few years was snake-bitten with various injuries. It didn’t help that their tag team partner broke out as a singles star in that same time to become one of AEW’s marquee names and is seen as a future world champion in the promotion.
That wrestler – Mark Davis.
Davis was signed by AEW in May 2023 alongside his Aussie Open tag partner Kyle Fletcher, with the pair expected to become a key part of AEW’s tag team division. However, Davis suffered his first injury with AEW when the team challenged then-champions FTR for the AEW Men’s World Tag Team Titles at AEW WrestleDream in October and Davis wound up breaking his wrist.
He returned in October 2024, joining the Don Callis Family shortly after and rejoin Fletcher who, as mentioned, became a breakout star in the time Davis was out and key member of the Don Callis Family.
Just as it seemed Davis was regaining momentum, he suffered a broken foot following a match with Powerhouse Hobbs on a March 2025 Dynamite. He would return from that injury several months later in October, and has since been able to avoid injury.
Cut to 2026 and Davis, only suffering brief hiccups due to recent AEW signing Jake Doyle, who Davis was set to challenge for the tag titles with, got injured almost two weeks after signing, and a brief holdover due to issues renewing his U.S. work VISA along with many other AEW and WWE wrestlers.
Aside from those, the veteran from Queensland, Australia, has quietly emerged as one of AEW’s standout workhorses and TV wrestlers over the course of the year. He’s gotten to share the ring with many of the promotion’s top names including Will Ospreay, Darby Allin, and ‘Hangman’ Adam Page, putting on one of the best matches of the show in a losing effort.
The work wasn’t lost on AEW’s top brass, though, as Davis would win his first AEW gold in 2026.
He first won the AEW World Trios Championship with his Don Callis Family stablemates Kyle Fletcher and Kazuchika Okada in March, but would lose them barely two weeks after to ‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey, ‘The Jet’ Kevin Knight, and CMLL star and new AEW signee Mistico at AEW Revolution.
Davis would win his first singles title in May at AEW’s Fairway to Hell special, defeating ‘Jungle’ Jack Perry for the AEW National Championship.
As of July 12, he is still AEW National Champion after defending the title in another standout match on the July 11 edition of AEW Collision against ‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey. He also appears poised to face former Don Callis Family member Andrade el Idolo, who will receive a shot at the National Title if he defeats Jake Doyle on the upcoming AEW Dynamite.
All this can be boiled down to one simple truth – Davis has overdelivered, and then some, in 2026 and deserves more recognition for it.
He has received praise in the moments for his work, but when you are working in the same company as wrestlers such as Jon Moxley, Kenny Omega, MJF, Mercedes Mone, Athena, and many others, it is easier to get lost in the shuffle. This is not a slight at Davis or the roster, either, but reflective of how strong the AEW roster is as of July 2026.
That said, it doesn’t diminish Davis’ contributions in the least. If anything, it speaks more to how consistent he has been in 2026 that fans now expect, at minimum, a good match from the wrestler nicknamed ‘Dunkzilla.’ Singles, tags, trios, stipulations, it hasn’t mattered what AEW has put Davis in over the course of the year, he has hit a proverbial home run, or close to it, every time he’s been given the chance to shine.
A competitive 8-minute loss to then-National Champion Jack Perry on the AEW Dynasty Zero Hour in April turned into his first singles title win for the National Title in AEW barely a month later on a major TV special. If there was any clearer evidence to how much Davis’ performance in 2026 has been recognized by AEW, this is it.
And while he has gotten some flowers from fans and critics, it feels as though Davis should be recognized even more for the banner year amid AEW’s own banner year. Thankfully, there is plenty of time left in 2026 and ‘Dunkzilla’ doesn’t appear to be slowing down any time soon.
Minimum Wage Nerd 