Wrestlers who would most benefit by going to the other company

General
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Wondering who people think would benefit the most by swapping to the other brand. We’ve seen some recent debuts and I must say I don’t think any of those are going to be earth shattering, but in general, there are people that I see on either company who I think would do better swapping over.

I recognize people may think certain people fit better in the other company like MJF for Moxley, but I’m picking those that I think would benefit the most by swapping over. So not picking people that are big stars in the company already but people that are being under used.

WWE

Bayley - she seems totally aimless since she lost the title. She’s just in some random tag matches and really no direction for her character. Going to AEW especially with the relationship with Mercedes would set her on fire. I think I don’t see this happening because I think her lifelong dream was to be in WWE, but you never know

Becky - another one where I think if she came into AEW especially because of Mercedes she could really be huge. She’s already a big star in WWE, but she’s been on the shelf and coming back there other than walking into programs that she’s already done doesn’t seem as big

Dragon Lee - I think this may be more of a lateral move, but he would go from doing nothing in WWE to maybe doing something with a Latino group in AEW

AJ - probably the obvious one. He has a lot of history with those guys and I think would fit in nicely to a lot of the storylines they are doing. In WWE he just seems sort of lost in the shuffle.

AEW

Okada - this may change with Omega coming in, but he seems criminally under utilized right now. You would have to think moving over would be huge, especially with Nakamura there.

Dustin - if anything, he could have a huge program involving Cody

Britt - another one who seems aimless in AEW that I think would be at least a reasonable star in WWE

Starks - again, he’s not really doing anything so you would have to think moving over and with his relationship with Cody he could be a bigger player

  • i’m leaving Miro off the list because he’s just being a bitch to AEW 1
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Montez Ford should make the jump. He’s slotted right now. He will forever be the tag team guy with the solo cups. If he goes, it has to be a restart. Use his name. No allusions to the Street Profits. New guy, new start and kill it in matches.

Wardlow should make the jump. They killed him in AEW. Sometimes, you only get one shot. He decimated MJF and Punk got injured. That was the time. Was he ready to be the top guy in the company? Maybe not. But the fans were behind him. Ever since then, it’s been start and stop with the TNT Title. He needs a change of scenary.

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I understand your reasoning with Bayley but I still think there is untapped potential for her in WWE. She’s the last horsewoman currently active. I think there’s storyline material there to adjust her character in an interesting way to be the last survivor of the women’s evolution. Only to eventually be confronted by Charlotte (or Becky if she comes back).

There’s also storyline material for her to finally embrace her “hugger” character and become a full fledged beloved babyface again. Maybe just in time for Izzy to make her WWE debut.

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If they do it right, the pop when the old Bayley theme hits will be an all-timer.

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I can’t think of many who would benefit from going AEW to WWE. I don’t really follow indies. So if they’re not already ex-WWE guys and AEW isn’t presenting them well, then I probably don’t care for them. But as I’ve said before, I’d like to see FTR back in the fed with HHH booking. Though ultimately I have no faith in either company to utilize a tag team properly right now.

As for WWE to AEW, I’d like to see AJ Styles, Finn Balor and Kevin Owens work with some of those guys (for the first time or first time in a while) before they call it a career. But I can’t say that they would “beneift”. I just think we would benefit from getting to watch it.

In terms of somebody going WWE to AEW because I want to see them booked better, I’d pick Chad Gable and Apollo Crews.

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When I read this question I instead think of who would benefit AEW the most. Because of AEW’s downturn in my opinion they have a perception problem.

Talent going to WWE is seen as going to the hot promotion while talent going to AEW I see as a lot of WWE cast-offs. Anyone leaving WWE that has been there several years going to AEW isn’t going to change that narrative.

What would help AEW’s perception the most would be for a hot prospect to have given WWE a shot for less than a year to make a jump to AEW as a better product for them.

Wrestlers like Trick Williams, Joe Hendry, Oba Femi, Sol Ruca, etc going to AEW would help the company the most. …although I can’t say if it would actually help these developing wrestlers.

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I think MJF would do absolutely amazing in WWE. Think about the feuds with Rock, Roman, Punk 2.0, Drew, Cody etc. His talents on that size of stage, I think he would hit Rock/Austin popularity. He may still hit it in AEW, but I think he would thrive in WWE.

Other way I think both AJ and Seth would thrive in AEW. The fresh matches and style change for both could lead to match of the year candidates. The idea of seeing Ospreay vs Rollins is on an AEW PPV with that crowd would be a dream match.

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We just had this thread a few weeks ago. Other than the ones below I’d add Anna Jay to WWE. Great look and has shown some promise but I think she would improve quicker in the WWE system -

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Apollo, 100%. Gable, I dont think he would get booked better in AEW. Im sure he would get less goofy stuff, but Gable has been a pretty prominent character in WWE for years now, especially since Vince left. He’s never going to be a regular world title contender in WWE, but the guy is consistently in mid-upper mid level storylines, and at the flip of a switch has the ability to be taken seriously (ie. the Gunther feud).

In AEW, I don’t see him doing anything more then guys like Miro and Andrade. Maybe he gets hot for the first few months, and sure he has some great matches on Collision/Rampage, but I don’t see him having the upside of someone like Ricochet in AEW.

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Kevin Steen. His contract is coming up real soon. He can debut in AEW and bring back “Mt. Rushmore”, with Adam Cole and the Young Bucks. Even have Kevin Steen feud with Chris Jericho in ROH, which would also be a really good callback.

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Yeah, I thought about him, but I guess the only issue for me is that he’s not in a bad spot in WWE. Like he’s usually involved with the top guys and you would have to think I will be involved with Cody and probably Sammy in some capacity, going forward as well. So yes, he would be good in AEW but he’s not in a bad spot here either.

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This is an overused term these days, but I think the guys who can potentially benefit their new promotion the most are the true “fumbles” that were wasted by their former employer. Ricochet and Shelton Benjamin can have the matches that they only had every so often (and/or on Main Event) in WWE. Bobby Lashley can hopefully get booked like a main eventer. Past examples of this would be Mox, FTR and Swerve. Their fans were screaming for them to get to “be themselves” in WWE. AEW just had to sign them and let them do it.

Opposite (IMO) is a guy like Rollins. Yeah, he’s a bigger name in 2024 than all of the above and might spike some interest (which is good, of course) while having good matches. But what is Tyler Black actually going to do in/for AEW that is any different from the last 10+ years in WWE?

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I do think certain WWE people can work, but there is a difference.

Some are obvious signings based on talent and star power but paradoxically, some have a certain WWE stink to them where they will never get to AEW unless they reinvent themselves. Baron Corbin is a recent example who will never be in AEW, unless he goes out and has a crazy indy run. Scrypts is a current example, who was Carmella’s butler, a 24/7 title goof and had an awful mask. However, Sidney Akeem has been tearing it up on the indies and would fit like a glove in AEW.

So, AEW wants WWE people but don’t want them to be too WWE, if you get me. A prior indy run helps. People who are seen as WWE having dropped the ball on also helps.

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Do you really think that’s the case though? I mean, I feel like they take a lot of guys without an Indy runner. Like they took Sheldon Benjamin and Lashley and what makes you think Lashley is a great worker?

I think Corbin can talk reasonably well and he’s got a good look and if they can use him in a proper capacity, they could bring him in. He’s like 40 years old. I don’t see him tearing up the Indies with high work rate. He’s more of like a mic type guy.

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Corbin was done the minute they shaved his head and filmed it as a “shoot” segment for Youtube and not as a heel getting beat in a TV or PLE match. Great company guy and helped carry the TV on a weekly basis in 2018-20 (not a good time creatively, but he did it regardless). But he stopped being a badass and turned into a “character” at that moment.

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I present to you the male model guys.

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Lashley got a lot of attention in TNA and his second WWE run was likely a success due to that. He showed more range as a performer. Plus, I think Lashley is a bigger star than someone like Corbin, so that helps.

I do think the idea of AEW picking up on a concept that WWE dropped the ball on goes to AEW.

One positive with AEW is sometimes their issue of not setting thing in stone and extreme long term planning like with WWE has its benefits. In WWE, everyone has a story so everyone is locked in. So with AEW, because they’ll sometimes do matches for the sake of them, it gives more people an opportunity to succeed or fail. Maximizing their minutes. Two examples are Beef and Kamille. Beef was just Anthony Henry’s fat cousin, but he got over so well based on his promos absurdity, he got more ROH time and some AEW time on Rampage. Convserly, Kamille shit the bed and is already being downgraded with her relationship with Mercedes Mone.

Weirdly enough, AEW’s large roster and lack of story structure for many people allows for more freedom to see who will get over. Montez Ford is stuck where he is, unless they have a years worth of plans for him.

In regards to the comment on MxM, they are apart of what AEW is about. The company started from a comedy YouTube show which took inspiration from Zack Ryder’s show, Wrestling Road Diaries and the PWG absurdist vignettes. Excalibur and El Generico being confronted by a finger snapping Chuck Taylor and Kenny Omega like Westside Story. MxM were just going to be ROH guys until they got over. When you have more freedom, you can experiment more.

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Well, I think a AEW certainly has its element of indie comedy. I think the stuff that has generated the biggest audiences has been the more serious storylines they run. Like punk versus MJF was huge for them, a lot of the stuff involving Brian Danielson, and the BCC, punk versus hangman.

Not sure if you make it back to a comedy driven organization, like some of the stuff Jericho has been doing lately, that’s really gonna get over to the same degree. I certainly wouldn’t advocate them going back to a YouTube comedy sketch so I think the further they get away from comedy and the more they focus on realistic storylines with better in ring action the better.

I mean, I think what they need to do is similar to what Bischoff claims he did for Monday nitro. Make a list of everything WWE does and see how you can be different. Certainly better in ring action, more international stars, and collaborations, and I would think more realistic storylines are things I would focus on

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I think Bum-Ass Corbin would work in TNA where he could focus on his character and carve out a role for himself. People liked him during that arc before he won the lottery or whatever.

He wouldn’t fit in AEW because the demand for in-ring bangers is too high.

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I disagree. Maybe that’s what AEW was. Now it’s 5 million heel groups all trying to take over the company and a tiny amount of low card comedy. The low card comedy usually slums it out on Rampage or Collision.

The promotion hasn’t felt fun in a while.