If I were AEW, my short list would be Rusev. Rush, EC3 and Spud, and maybe one of the women.
Those are performers that not only are good talents, but they fill needs on the roster.
Everyone else is either redundant, pretty much washed, or their style is incongruent with the AEW style. 
Very good point.
Iâm not trying to imply that AEW shouldnât bring anyone in, I just believe they need to be mindful of how many wrestlers they bring in from WWE right now. Of the guys you mentioned there are a few differences, mainly they all came over to WWE over a longer period of time. Austin and Foley in '96, the Radicals in 2000, HHH in '95, Jericho in '99 etc. and most of those guys were thought of as having untapped potential at the time. With the guys WWE just released, outside of Rusev, I donât think between Ryder, Hawkins, Slater, Anderson, Gallows etc. that any of them have main event/world title contender type of potential. I also have to imagine that this current crop is older then the aforementioned wrestlers at the time they came in as well. .
AEW has only been on TV now for what, a year? If you look at the product through the lens of a WWE casual fan who randomly puts it on one day, I think the way the product will appear to them IF AEW is not careful is Jericho, Ambrose, and failed WWE low card/midcarder wrestlers. Outside of those two, Cody Rhodes, Goldust, Ty Dillinger, Luke Harper, Jack Swagger, Matt Hardy, Neville, Health Slater, Zack Ryder, Curt Hawkins, Rusev, Gallows, Anderson etc. near the end of their WWE careers were all mid or low card talent. Now obviously those last few names are not signed, but I wanted to group them all together just emphasize how many there are.
Right now I think AEW is likely at their limit of WWE guys for. As time goes by I think they can sign more and things will change, but right now I think they should be mindful.
And I say this with all due respect to the wrestlers. This is not meant to be a knock on any of them, and for a lot of them its not even their fault.
The more I think about it though, they probably could bring in EC3, I dont think many associate him with WWE considering he barely appeared once he got called up.
The problem is, there has only been one major wrestling company for the last 20 years. Wrestlers have to come from somewhere. Until they set up a dojo system, AEW will have to sign people who worked somewhere else before
The other thing is, I think thereâs a big difference between being an ex-WWE performer & being someone who feels like a WWE cast-off.
For instance, I think people like Rusev, Lio Rush, & EC3/Spud are good enough to become their own thing in whatever new company they go toâŚWheras someone like a Heath Slater is always going to be âWWE Superstar Heath Slaterâ, and Mike & Maria have unfortunately got a lot of work to do to rebound from this last WWE run & the personal/professional hit that came with it. 
I see what you are saying, but there are plenty of places to acquire talent in 2020. Just look at the other half of AEWâs roster, some of the most over guys in the company never set foot in WWE in any type of significant role.
But if we label Jericho as an ex WWE guy, then you label the Young Bucks and Christopher Danielâs as ex WWE guys. Kenny Omega was in WWE developmental as wellâŚ
If I was casting people for a tv show or movie, I would have to get actors that worked somewhere else beforeâŚwhy is this so different?
I donât know that, that is fair. Jericho could be WCW but for still living companies he is most known for his time in WWE. No one remembers those other guys in WWE. Jericho was there a long time and was a champion. By your argument Britt Baker is WWE talent because she was squashed by Nia Jax as local talent. I think you can differentiate between guys that had long runs in WWE and are identified with their characters in that system, and guys who are not. I think the danger is picking up too many of these cast offs too quickly. Especially the better known guys. If they took Rusev, Ryder, Hawkins, the Revival, Curtis Axil, and gave them jobs right now with no break. Then either you get them pushed over current talent which I think hurts AEW, or they end up âjobbingâ to current talent. Which hurts AEW (misusing guys who were portrayed as poorly used in WWE.). If you pick up 2 to 4 performers (especially someone like Purazzo who was largely unknown in WWE) then I think that is enough. You can always sign guys later after they have some time elsewhere. I donât think AEW wants to send the message of signing anyone let go by WWE. They need to sign guys they have plans for and make them look great. The message sent by âlook what we did with these guys that WWE missed the boat onâ is a strong message. âWeâre a company of WWE cast offs.â Isnât. I also think there is a difference with Jericho and Moxley because they left on their own terms and were upper mid card guys when they left.
Again, Iâm not saying that AEW shouldnât sign anyone that came from WWE, Iâm saying they need to be mindful of how many they sign in a short period of time. Also, I dont think anyone thinks of guys like the young bucks and Omega as âWWE guysâ. I even specified this is in reference to guys branded as WWE guys. You bring up Jericho, of course that was a good signing, its not they canât sign WWE guys, again its how many.
Ill take your TV Show analogy and use the best example I can think of. If a network comes out with a cop show, but their cast consists of 70% former CSI actors/actresses, the perception would be that this show was âCSI lightâ. Its ok to cast someone who used to work on CSI, but you would not want to cast half of your show from former CSI cast-mates.
Iâm not saying this is fair, it just is what it is.
I find Spears to be an adequate signing. Heâs a good recognizable jobber who looks the part.
They will need to cycle these guys out though. Spears in 2019-2020 fine. By 21/22 he will have overstayed his welcome
Yes if thatâs his role he is fine. I just donât want to see them sign a bunch of low cars mike Bennett types and dilute the roster. Way more upside to having a Darby or Sammy or Jungle Boy it MJF on in a segment then Mike Bennett
Iâm not saying âhire every ex WWE guyâ but, they shouldnât turn down an obvious asset, like Rusev or the Revolt, because of where they worked before. Only a sith deals in absolutes.
Oh, then weâre on the same page. I even said they should sign Rusev. I forgot about the Revival to be honest, I would sign then as well if I were AEW.
Adding to kliqâs point, I remember WWE loading all the WCW guys they can sign in 2001 when WCW closed down. They made that terrible Alliance angle and almost closed down themselves.
However, with all the WWE guys that AEW signed far, they still have three years or more to make good use before they lose them or re-sign.