Ex-WWE Stars Wasted In AEW

A switch that hasn’t turned out well for them

The first thing you think about when the name AEW is mentioned is the amount of ex-WWE wrestlers that they signed. In the beginning of the promotion the majority of the roster was made up of these wrestlers.

The idea was for them to find some sort of glory that they didn’t reach during their tenure in WWE. They were probably promised big-time matches and championship gold, of course some got it while many others didn’t.

We have the Chris Jericho’s, CM Punk’s, and Jon Moxley who really did become the stars of the promotion. Especially Jon who has taken the promotion to new heights.

When you look at the actual number of wrestlers who came from WWE that have gotten a spotlight, it’s a very handful of them. Most of them either stayed on the mid-card level or even dropped down to the lower mid-card.

Personally, I think this is a strong example of lack of good booking. Having too many fishes in the pond and not being able to show them the direction you want them to go.

Let’s take a look at some of the wrestlers.

Big Show

Paul Wight, better known as Big Show generated a lot of buzz when he left WWE for AEW. It was a move that came out of the blue and really did make headlines news for a bit.

We were all wondering what he was going to do. Was he going to have the same success he did in the 90’s when he jumped ship from WCW to WWE and quickly became an established figure? That wasn’t the case.

It’s true that his in-ring career is really coming to an end, he can’t go on for much longer, so him being on commentary is a good fit.

But, he was never even on the main show. He was also commentating either AEW Dark or AEW Elevation, which you can consider them the Velocity and Sunday Night Heat of AEW.

He worked a few squash matches.

Sadly, Big Show hasn’t really done anything relevant in the promotion to really make him stand out.

AEW has signed one of the most famous figures in sports entertainment and you can’t even capitalize on that? That’s how you know that this was just to make headline news and gain some sort of publicity for AEW.

He deserves better.

Athena(Ember Moon)

Athena or Ember Moon made a big impact when she was on NXT. She quickly climbed the ladder of the women’s division and became a champion there. She made such an impact that she was finally drafted to the main roster in WWE.

That’s where things went downhill for her. She got lost in the shuffle due to the already big-names of the women’s division. She ended up being such a jobber for the main event people.

AEW called and she was quick to sign with them. She made her first appearance at Double Or Nothing and she did have some amount of success after that appearance.

They built her up to be one of the top women in AEW. The feud she had with Jade Cargill was the best of her work. The build up to that match was really, really good.

That match only lasted 4-minutes. They basically showed Athena being no competition for the strong Jade. All that build up didn’t payoff and she quickly went down the card.

Now, we don’t really see much of her. She holds a title but never defends it.

It seems like they just don’t know how to book her or even know who she could face.

Athena is an incredible wrestler, they need to find her an opponent that can elevate her back to where she belongs and that’s at the top of the women’s division.

Samoa Joe

His time in WWE was a bit short, but the Samoan submission machine made sure that his time spent in the promotion was time well spent. He’s an outstanding veteran in the wrestling world. We all really know him for his decade long career in TNA or as we call it now Impact Wrestling.

When you see him wrestle, he puts in all of his effort and we can all honestly say that he has never had a bad match, unless his opponent screws it up.

When AEW announced that Samoa Joe was All Elite. The roof blew up from household to household. This is going to be amazing. He’s going to be champion and he’s going to carry the company on his back next to Jericho.

That wasn’t the case, since debuting in AEW he hasn’t done anything useful for the company and that’s their fault. What he has done in AEW doesn’t hold a candle next to what he has done in Impact Wrestling and AEW.

Samoa is one of the top mic-speakers in wrestling. The man will talk circles around you, you cannot beat him.

AEW should’ve really thought about it and made it a priority that this big man can handle the pressures of being a world champion and will never miss a day of work.

Andrade

This is probably the saddest of the bunch.

Similar to everyone on this list, Andrade is one hell of a wrestler. He has never been one to do great promos as his english isn’t all that good, but he backed it up in the ring. Of course he mixed in his Lucha Libre style of wrestling with our Americanized style, which compliments it so well.

Andrade should be top dog.

Vince McMahon and Tony Khan have never really able to really book him well.

Andrade came to AEW and nothing changed for him. In WWE he was a lower mid-card that often of times did a lot of jobbing. Right now in AEW he’s doing the same thing. He’s barely on T.V, there’s no story for him, there hasn’t been a championship for him. It’s almost like his wasting him time there.

The only notable thing he has done in AEW was his feud with Pac.

It’s total injustice how Andrade hasn’t been handled well in BOTH promotions.

Miro

Rusev or as we call him now Miro, just like Andrade hasn’t been booked the best in both WWE and AEW. Despite being a powerhouse and a talented in-ring wrestler, and a fierce talker on the mic, somehow they just can’t get him right.

The difference here is that at least in WWE he had storylines that were at some point decent enough to get him over. As a heel in WWE he was furious and took on an challenge. He made sure you hated him.

In AEW…he hasn’t had any real storyline, or at least anything that really caught on. It seems like Tony Khan just has him under payroll just to have another powerhouse on the roster that maybe, JUST MAYBE, can go head-to-head with some other bigger guy.

Who can forget “Rusev Day”?

It wasn’t his fault that he was laid off from WWE due to budget cuts. But AEW was quick to sign him and gave him nothing in return. He hasn’t been on T.V for a while due to an injury sadly. Hopefully they can give him something to at least get more noticed than he is now.