AEW Roster A-Z

[Matt D]

Goodear did this a few years ago and I think I'm actually far more positive on the AEW Roster overall. I think he was more focused on how they were being used. I'm going to do this more on my in-ring or overall observations. We have Secret Santo starting next week (plug; go sign up if you haven't), but I've got a little time this week to knock some of this out and it should be fun. I'll go alphabetical based on the website and may supplement for ROH people not listed. The website starts with champions, so I'll do those and the letter A:

MJF: This month, MJF has gotten over both a body slam on Big Bill and a double clothesline as a big deal. That is very impressive to me. Some of it shows that wrestling is all about what you make matter and that while escalation can, just quantitatively make things matter more, you either don't need it or you can intertwine it with simpler more primal things to make everything mean the most. There are times where MJF leans hard into character in his matches and makes it work. There are times where he leans into metatextual stuff more so and it doesn't work. I hated the 4 way for the title, for instance, since there was a lot of stuff in there that was in there for the sake of being in there. It got a reaction but it doesn't hold back under any scrutiny. Sometimes he will grab the ropes on an abdominal stretch (or ask for Cole's hand). Sometimes he'll do a fast pin exchange sequence that take you out of a match because he's trying to prove that he's as good workrate wise as anyone else. If he was able to somehow make it so the character of MJF was trying to prove something similar, it'd work. As it is, it doesn't. Still, he's so close to just getting it overall and I think he's capable of it with a bit more maturity and a bit less of a chip on his shoulder. Very talented and his best days are most likely yet to come.

Toni Storm: The heel turn was hard because it only barely made sense and it took her a while to figure out who she was now. I think Ruby turning helped and she's basically there now. I liked her House Rules matches a lot, just a nice mix of hard hitting and stooging. She's very versatile. With the right opponent she can have as hard hitting a match as anyone on the roster. I think she's better at playing into the stooging than either Saraya or Ruby and she manages it without losing any credibility. She's able to dominate people like Billie and Skye and then go even with people like Emi or Taya. The robe bit gives her sort of an "evil auntie" type vibe which is how she found herself. It just took a bit to get there. She was having a great "ace" run as babyface champ before Hayter too so it's almost a shame but she can be that again at the drop of a hat probably.

Kris Statlander: I don't think Stat has had "the match" yet since her return but she's been a fighting champion and obviously has her strength as what makes her stand out. She has the sign language, the "night fever/big bang theory" stuff, the story of coming back from injury, the connection with the crowd but I have less of an idea who she is overall when she was the booping alien. I think all of these changes to make her more serious somehow makes her stand out less. I'm looking forward to whatever she's going to do with Kiera Hogan/Mercedes/Willow but for now I'm not totally sold on this return, no matter how much I like her story and think she's someone worth pushing.

Orange Cassidy: I've spoken at length about Cassidy. He's the male wrestler of the year for 2023, at least for AEW, and has had one of the best one year periods in the history of wrestling. That's not recency bias either. He's able to work his shtick, his opponent's deal, and his current injuries into everything he does now and it just builds and builds and builds week in and week out. I don't think I have a lot to say here. It's more interesting to talk about Aaron Solo than Cassidy who I write about all the time. He should overcome Mox at All In and hold it until the end of the year.

Luchasaurus: Much better as a heel even if he's still a little kick heavy sometimes. I was thinking how much I wanted to see Darby Allin wrestle a 3 match series with Christian but I actually want to see the match with Luchasaurus too. He's basically fake Kane right now but a dinosaur, with more agility and worse instincts (which isn't great when I write it out), but he's protected much more and has Christian to help him through matches. I think he's being used smartly. You just don't want him in a ten minute match against Willie Mack where they are both doing a ton of stuff, right?

Aaron Solo: Here's Aaron Solo. Start of the list. He's fine. The definition of fine. Hits stuff clean. Willing to bump. The breath freshner thing is pretty weak. He's at the very bottom of the totem pole in the company. I can see a world where you could pair him with Alex Reynolds as a lower-tier tag team. He was basically fake Paul Roma with more of a spin kick when he was with Comoroto. You need guys to lose or get beat up to build up to the person you really want to get beat up getting beat up but he's not a guy I generally want to see. He's a lot older than you'd think (36)

Action Andretti: I'm actually warming to young Action. His first few appearances were weird since they gave him very 1999 Evan Karegious offense. The team with Martin has been good for him as was the feud with the Kingdom and some other appearances. He's able to work a little more spectacularly now. The running Shooting Star Press wasn't a good finisher for him. Neither is his torture rack move that he does now, but he's fine in tags. He's only 25 and working with good talent and agents so there's room for growth. It's nice to have a Maryland Championship Wrestling guy in the mix too. You want a range of people from different places.

Adam Cole: Well, this is what made me think about doing this in the first place. As noted, I think he's been good playing Robert Gibson, in early, on the apron cheerleading, clearing house with superkicks after the hot tag. He is undeniably over with the crowd. I don't know if the current MJF story would have worked with almost anyone else. As someone that writes up matches with a critical eye, he's very difficult to deal with. He doesn't do ANYTHING particularly well. The facial expressions don't work. He bumps ok but has maybe been a little bit ginger recently. When he's a heel, he's too over with face reactions no matter what he thinks. Usually, I can figure out why someone is over and what they're doing right to connect to the crowd. He's got the song and the Boom and the name. People like to chant along. I half wonder if Aaron Solo couldn't be just as over if he figured out how to tap into that stuff? And the Panama Sunrise is the worst move in AEW because it forces a wrestler to do something they never do in any other circumstance without Cole going out of his way to set them up for it (see: 619 which is always set up meticulously). That's the biggest sin in wrestling past Brodying (bumping without selling). But his crowd connection is undeniable. I just don't see how this guy ever becomes worth watching, unfortunately. A year working with Christian and learning the art of match layout maybe?

Adam Page: No one wants to hear me talk about Page. I think his match layout is terrible. I think he's someone who has consistently been rewarded for bad habits over the years. I think he hits bombs too early. I think he's much better as a hot tag or if he's in situations where he's dominated early and can hit his big moves as hope spots or transitions. He can brawl pretty well. He does well to a degree with "big match feel" down the stretch. Some of his bombs look good. He's someone who knows what sort of stories he wants to tell or knows what he thinks is cool and right and art and to me, it drags down his good qualities, but he's a guy who is very happy just living in his own skin and doing what he thinks it right. I generally think it's wrong but I see his upside much more clearly than Cole, for instance.

Alex Reynolds: Reynolds, with Silver, is the best guy on the roster at making stupid stuff work. The PWG tag house style has things break down early and Reynolds is good at still balancing stakes and momentum shifts and tandem offense that makes sense somehow despite all logic. He's good at most of the conventional things you want from a tag wrestler: eating a beating, a fiery comeback for the hot tag, being the hot tag, working a shine with his partner (though he's not as good as Uno or Silver for that). In some ways he's similar to Nese or Solo as a wrestler who can wrestle but doesn't otherwise standout, but his intangibles are stronger than Solo certainly. I don't think he has enough to stand out as a singles. I'm curious to see what he'll be like as a heel, I guess.

Andrade el Idolo: Got to love that spinning back elbow. I want to see him against Kingston just trading those. Very good at wrestling with purpose, with oomph, with character. It's hard to believe this is the same guy who was teaming with RUSH and Mascara. I'm not sure about positioning him as a babyface, though I guess he's more doing his thing and wrestling with pride. I'd like to see him against almost anyone on the roster in almost any setting. I especially want to see him with RUSH though. He's someone I have a personal connection to from him CMLL (and to a lesser degree NXT) days and I just think he has a lot to offer. Him being back has felt very fresh this last month, but I also enjoyed him a lot when he was working Elevation and just killing guys too.

Angelico: They never, ever just give him ten minutes against a Zack Sabre, Jr. or Bryan Danielson and just let him work the mat. I'm not sure he's a guy you want to see in fully fleshed out matches but I really want to see him in exhibitions. It's kind of amazing he still has a job and that goes to some of the other stuff he does (agent? announce?). Always excited he has a match. Usually a little disappointed he doesn't get time. I want to see him in the Pure Rules division against Garcia/Yuta/Woods/Shibata/Moriarty/etc.

Angelo Parker: I love how old school and conventional 2.0 can be. Parker has the comb and whatever, but mainly he hits with precision and bumps and stooges like he ought to. It was interesting that Menard got big reactions in battle royals this last week and even when he had some spotlight, no one cared about Parker. I like him but he's definitely a guy to eat offense so someone else doesn't have to or provide numbers. But his has very good timing and some of his stuff, even just a cut off clothesline can look very good. I'd like to see them turn Menard and have Parker feud with him a bit but it'd be very low card.

Anthony Bowens: Just excellent. Love watching him do his strike exchange or just take or give a back body drop. He doesn't do a ton of fancy stuff but he puts his own spin on almost everything and it looks impactful and purposeful. Great timing on tag spots and when things break down at the end of a match. Very strong selling when he's face in peril and fiery when he's the hot tag. His strikes are not always conventional but they feel like some of the best in the company. Maybe they're just easy to protect? And such a connection to the crowd. He needs more singles matches. He can be world champion some day if they keep building him and he gets the reps in.

Anthony Ogogo: Was getting better and then he disappeared off the face of the earth. It was obvious he was putting the time in both in learning new moves to try and in just having better flow. The punching was secondary to some of his new offense but was something that was always in his back pocket. I think he was one of the guys working out with the BCC before shows. No idea what happened to him.

AR Fox: I'm glad Fox has a shot. He's very good at what he does. I'm not particularly interested in what he does, which is a lot of rolling to hit moves like stunners, a lot of elaborate set ups that don't really add much impact or anything else for that matter. Not everyone has to be for me. I'm not sure how it would work as a heel, but presumably he and Swerve (or even he and Cage) could have a lot of ridiculous stuff that works better in a tag setting than as a singles.

Ari Daivari: Also an agent. Journeyman that can make others look good. You need guys like him. He wanted to work with Nese as they prided themselves on that back at 205 Live, but Nese works in more character and commits more to whatever's happening. In some ways, I think it blurred the lines and neutered what the Trustbusters could have been. ROH TV should have been partially built around them. Varsity Athletes is more of a Rampage act, I guess. Basically, guys like him, Solo, even Parker and to a degree Reynolds (though Reynolds brings something unique in layout) are dependent upon their opponent. They'll have a good match regardless, but they need the right opponent to have an interesting one. You can use him to debut someone new or to push someone who needs a win though.

Austin Gunn: Must have been conceived in Memphis. He's the heir to Brian Cristopher, constantly vocal, constantly over the top. Curious to see what more tags with him and Juice will be like. He has a definite ceiling but that ceiling is a mid-card champion. Needs as many reps as he can get but in BCG they should get solid opponents and he can work more on the act. Definitely not boring even if he used some out of the norm stuff (like the sliding clip) too much. A spot like that shouldn't be every match. I'd lie to see him turn on Colton at some point, but not yet.

[Matt D]

Bs

Bandido: In a lot of ways Bandido feels like one of the more adaptable lucha guys in AEW. He's got the surprising power. He's got the counting suplex which is pretty over. He has a decent amount of experience against a wide range of opponents. I'd like to see him against more people, even though he's out right now. I probably do ultimately see him more in ROH maybe? I'd like to see him against Claudio or Joe. He's been a fairly useful cog in the machine so far I guess.

Big Bill: He presents himself like no one else with the way he plays to the crowd and his opponents despite his size. There's a real sense of dissonance there. We've primarily seen him in tag settings. I think it's a real testament to him that we went from dreading a match against Danielson a few years ago to all sort of wanting to see another one, right? I think he could get over huge as a babyface at some point and hopefully a few months down the line, that's where we go with the Cage pairing (even if I don't think they'd actually have a good match). Imagine him as a Wardlow partner, for instance? Plus he's a guy who is probably really good at media appearances down the line.

Billy Gunn: Outsizes people in a way that may not be the best but it always means something for someone to beat him. Is he retired now? I have no idea. It's nice that he got one last run of relevance. I hadn't loved the heel Gunn stuff with Aubrey for instance. Gunn, like Jarrett to a degree, is kind of a case of the world moving and him becoming more valuable because he stood still. We'd have to revisit his 99-01 run at some point but people in our circles HATED Gunn for getting pushed over Benoit or whatever and I have no idea how that stuff would hold up now. My guess is that we've changed and he stayed still too but who knows. Certainly some of the things he tries to do to get over are out of date and that would have been an issue eventually, but likely not now.

Brandon Cutler: The best part of the elite! A clear side effect of those guys coming back and Elevation dying is that we don't see him anymore. A legitimately funny comedy wrestler who has a real connection to the crowd. I'd love to see him in ROH or in an endless feud with Serpentico but it's not happening. Even so, he could be used on Rampage sometimes. He'd be a great eternal Daddy Magic nemesis right?

Brian Cage: Cage is a guy who can work a certain way but chooses not to and I guess more power to him. It's possible that if he chose a different path in life, he might have been a top guy, but he didn't. You always get the sense he's enjoying himself. I can't fault him much for wrestling exactly how he wants to and doing so in a winking manner. I could watch him wrestle Willie Mack all day for instance but I don't necessarily want to see him wrestle too many other people. He can be a gatekeeper with Bill for a while, I guess. They really need to get the ROH Six-Man Belts off of Embassy though since there aren't a lot of fresh matches and it's a lot of the same. Now a Fox, Swerve, Cage trio could actually hold the AEW six-man titles without a second thought.

Brock Anderson: He was coming along as a passable young face, I guess, but I have no idea what he's been doing recently. He's worked 5 times this year. That's a disaster for him! He needs to be getting reps and getting out there. Do an odd couple team with him and Cole Karter! Have him be the traitorous flagbearer for Aussie Open. Just do anything. I can see him ending up in the WWE system at some point as things are going.

Brody King: Just a wrecking ball in the House of Black matches. No notes. I'm very excited for the eventual FTR/CM Punk vs HOB or CM Punk vs King matches. You know they're coming.

Bryan Danielson: My personal feeling it that Danielson does what's expected of him a little too much and fits people into his matches just a little too much and I like his matches, but I'd like to see him stretch a little more. He had to in the Okada match and I deeply enjoyed his performance but you wish he could get there without an injury to force him into that space. Obviously, he needs to be healthy again and hopefully he gets there soon. I might be ready for him to be a babyface again but it depends upon opponents. My gut says that he'll be excited to play around with what's going on at Collision maybe? I don't think his week to week year is as strong as some other people might think but it's still strong! Because he's still Bryan Danielson! And he did very well in the big matches, of course.

Buddy Matthews: Back to the "no notes" category here. I'm glad he got a couple of feature matches against Andrade and he certainly made the most of them. We're going to remember his shoulder popping back in (work or not) a few months down the line and wince. Part of me wants him to go to WWE for the Dom match at some point but you know they'd blow it in the worst possible way. Better for him just to push himself as hard as possible against opponents of the House of Black for now.

[zendragon]

I’d love to see Anglico v Brock Anderson get about 8-10 minutes as Rampage continues to evolve into AEW Worldwide

AA to me highlights one of Tony Ks flaws, drafting to your strengths not your needs. It’s like we don’t need a fourth back what we need are OL! He’s another guy who’s under 200lbs who works the house style (post-Roh/pwg) like a bunch of other guys. Got a bit of a push and now he’s just another guy

@Matt D I’m always amazed that you seem to love PAC and Hate Hangman. PAC seems to be way worse with the early bombthrowing (a top rope brain buster is a early 2 count for example ) he reminds me of when WWE main event house style devolved into nothing but finisher spam

[Matt D]

Maybe I just have different expectations with PAC. Maybe I think he's less able to lead a match. Maybe, because of his size, he's put in situations where he's less dominant? Maybe I just haven't seen him nearly as much as Page over the last few  years since he's been buried in tags and trios (some of which I skipped) and out. I thought the Claudio match was pretty good, but he's P and I'll get to him.

For now, C's a big one here.

Cash Wheeler: I like Cash more than Dax. I could have been convinced otherwise sometimes last year, but man do I ever like Cash's presence. He's just so into the match, so on, so focused. You always get the sense with Dax that he's just a little Foley-ish, that he's thinking of the big amazing moment they've worked out and how to get to it, where Cash is just going to leap at you full speed. Just a little better at tapping into the moment. I do think, especially after this last week, that the FTR face run should just about be over. They were kind of underhanded WWF Brainbusters type heels last run and elevated as they are, they could be JCP Tully and Arn against smaller guys for this next run if they do go heel.

Chris Jericho: I don't know, guys. I really liked Jericho vs Keith Lee and no one else did and the Strong match was great due to smoke and mirrors, but I haven't loved his 2023 even if I think his 2022 was very, very strong. I didn't love the Komander match for instance, but I'm glad he's going out there and working these guys and trying. The Starks feud was backwards and annoying. The Andretti stuff was too on the nose. I, once again, have hopes for his inteactions with Sammy and Garcia on Wednesday. More the fool am I? Who knows. He's so thin-skinned that he's always going to try at least.

Christian Cage: Christian's awesome. #1 and the best. I love that guy. I want a three match series with Darby. I want a three match series with everyone. I know he's in great shape but it feels like borrowed time and he's best working weekly on TV and switching moves and spots around and working with a guy's signature stuff and fitting it all in. Super wrestling savant. Plus he gets real heat. I can't wait for him to interact with Perry again! Or have a singles with Punk or Starks or anyone. I wish he was wrestling every week.

Christopher Daniels: Had a good match with Garcia lately and ok tag stuff with Sydal but he's just not a guy I want to see. Maybe I'd like him more as a heel right now? The DVDVR argument against him for years is that his stuff was too crisp and pretty and didn't really feel impactful and age has given him grit since he can't hit stuff quite as well but a little goes a long way with that guy.

Chuck Taylor: I don't know. I like Chuck Taylor in theory. A little bigger. The Southern Gentleman thing, some of the specific offense, but I really don't think I like the Best Friends as a tag unit. I think they just kind of bug me with the PWG style and lack of tags and whatever else. I think I like Chuck more than Trent in singles but I like Trent and Rocky more than Trent and Chuck? I don't know. He seems a likable gent and all. I do think they should get SOME belts at some point. I'd watch a few more singles matches to really decide, sure.

Claudio: Y'know, I've heard some people say that he doesn't emotional connect in matches, that he treats every match the same to some degree, and I wonder... maybe it's just that no one is pushing him hard enough. Maybe the guys that would are already in the BCC. I think we got some of that in the Eddie match and I'd like to see the rematch. Otherwise, I'd like to see him against someone like Suzuki or Ishii. Maybe that's what it takes right now. I'd like to see him against Darby. I'd like to see him against Cassidy. I'd like to see him against Keith Lee. There are still a bunch of matches on the table, but it's time to see Claudio against more people who can really push him mentally, physically, or emotionally.

CM Punk: In some ways, the crowd reactions are getting in the way of the really great stuff about making every little thing matter once again. In other ways, of course, they make everything all the more interesting. They're almost like the sugar that helps the medicine go down with the average fan. He's getting Cena reactions, but instead of Cena who (much like Cody) acted like a prime babyface and just got booed by half the crowd for it or Bret who was a complete face some places and a complete heel others, Punk really is appealing to just part of the crowd and pissing off the other part, for every crowd, and that in and of itself feels sort of fascinating. He's another guy who feels on borrowed time but I just want to see him work everyone.

Colt Cabana: I don't know. There's not much left in the tank there. He's been disappointing in most of his recent showings and they're few and far between. He had big opportunities against guys like Jericho or Danielson and there was just nothing there. I'd like to see the Dark Order terrorize him maybe? That'd be interesting. Could they pull something out of him?

Colton Gunn: More size and athleticism than his brother. Decent physical charisma. Way less personality though. I think he's the babyface of the two and I would have liked to see Austin have to turn on him to join the BCG. I'm not sure what he brings to the table that's unique but I think he could grow into a standing tall heel, sort of the successor to Hangman Page. He's 4 years older than Austin (he's 32) and I think Austin started first and in some ways, it shows.

[Zimbra]

I think the AEW house style helps Christopher Daniels by making him work matches witb longer control segments instead of keeping everything 50/50 like he tended to earlier on in his career. Daniels staging a comeback is more interesting than him trading moves.

I was a huge Fallen Angel guy back when so I'm always happy to see him working.

[Octopus]

I will follow along with less of a write up and more of just a sentence or two. 
 

MJF: Everything he does (on mic, in ring, and during segments), you can tell he asks himself “is this what my character would do?” Maybe the best theater kid turned wrestler. 

Toni Storm: You can tell she is more comfortable with her character and her role than she has ever been. I really enjoy her backstage promos. 

Kris Statlander: Best person to beat Jade but I’m afraid she could be lost in AEW’s booking of the women’s division. I hope she has a run of killer matches like an open challenge. 

Orange Cassidy: Maybe having the best midcard title run right now? He’s so important to AEW as a character but also as a wrestler. Unique but we’re past the novelty phase and into making it accepted as excellent execution of an unique fighting style. 

Luchasaurus: Dinosaurs are money. He should be on every souvenir cup. His strikes tightened up but still room for improvement. Keep him with Christian and maybe even reunite with heel JungleChad. Stuffed animals of him would make money. Dinosaurs are lit.

Aaron Solo: A good hand. Better than the Trust Busters

Action Andretti: He’s young and will improve. Giving him the Jericho win was a nice rub that will likely stay with him to give him that he can hold for clout. Put him with some good workers/ teachers and he could become something. Not for me but no hate.

Adam Cole: He has undeniable charisma. Even if some of us find him awkward, he has a presence and a command of his audience. I like his presence as a heel, but this current storyline tapped into his empathy and would a bit better than anything they’ve done so far, so he’s winning me over as a face. 

Adam Page: Cowboy Kurt Angle. Face of AEW when they want him to be. 

Alex Reynolds: Underrated because his partner is fun. Maybe Cruiserweight Cash? Idk

Andrade el Idolo: Current face run is weird because he was a good heel. But they never maintained any storyline, so he’s a face. Makes sense, he’s handsome and looks smooth and cool in the ring. A solid choice for a not-Punk face of Collision.

Angelico: The green full body suit was weird. Does he still wear that? 

Angelo Parker: Him hanging through the cage if that one Blood and Guts was spectacular. He’ll likely always be the Matt Hardy of the team, but that’s not a bad thing to strive for! I like Angelo!

Anthony Bowens: Future big deal! He is so money. Stay healthy and hopefully the Acclaimed don’t do anything stupid/ too far. But I think he’ll be fine. I’m excited to see him rise up the ranks. 

Anthony Ogogo:

AR Fox: I bet he is a blast to see live! Not my style but in a trio or wild tag he is perfect. 

Ari Daivari: The Trust Busters we’re dumb. I’ve seen him at local shows so he’s forgiven. But you’re in thin ice, Ari.

Austin Gunn: He’s got it. Top notch douche-face. Piece of shit and I love it. Needs more polish but that’ll come with experience. Keep them in feuds. Fun entrance.

Bandido: Tony Khan acquires talent like drafting best player available. Not a bad philosophy but we can see people get a hot debut/ few moments then kinda show up every once in a while. He could have been an early big deal in the company but chose to sign with ROH over a pre-Dynamite AEW. I think ROH is a good spot for him or the occasional banger. I’ve seen so little but he’s always impressed me. Plus, a great look! Idk what you do with him outside of BOOK MATCHES OCTOPUS LIKES segments. His matches with Danielson and Jericho were both wonderful. I’d love to see him against Rush or Claudio. 

Big Bill: ugh, I don’t like saying this but maybe best big man in the company right now? He pulls off being a big mean heel well. 

Billy Gunn:

Brandon Cutler: Fantastic stooge during the heel Omega run. Please have him join Don Callis as his assistant.

Brian Cage: Fast paced Wardlow? I’m sure great trio piece. Sideburns.

Brock Anderson: Give him a billion reps! Pay him to travel the Indy’s. Send him in excursion. See if he could do a cute lil 4 Horsemen run at DDT or something. 

Brody King:

Bryan Danielson: Mr Winter. Seems to have hot beginnings and endings of years in AEW. . Bandito, Rush, Takeshita, Thatcher, and Cage all in good to great matches leading to my MOTY so far with MJF. Time off, then an Anarchy in the Arena and great commentary work. Then a weird but thought provoking match against Okada. Now injured. Always something with the American Dragon.

Buddy Matthews: I remember he had a promo package in 205Live that had so much personality and gave him such an intense douche heel vibe. Being in HoB doesn’t allow that personality to thrive. But, the plus side is when he has stand out moments or solo matches, he comes across more important because he’s with Brody and Malakai. 

Cash Wheeler: What Matt said, but I still like Dax. I hope we see a string of singles matches.

Chris Jericho: Storylines usually are ok or suck. I like a lot of his matches when I assume I won’t. You can predict who he will feud or pair with by who is getting over. I’m higher on him than most here, but not a super fan. Singing is fun. I wore an Inner Circle shirt yesterday.

Christian Cage: “Christian's awesome. #1 and the best. I love that guy. I want a three match series with Darby. I want a three match series with everyone. I know he's in great shape but it feels like borrowed time and he's best working weekly on TV and switching moves and spots around and working with a guy's signature stuff and fitting it all in. Super wrestling savant. Plus he gets real heat. I can't wait for him to interact with Perry again! Or have a singles with Punk or Starks or anyone. I wish he was wrestling every week.” - @Matt D

Christopher Daniels: I don’t have modern thoughts. Good veteran to pair young folks with. Maybe give him a cute little team called The Fallen Angels or something dumb. I respect him as a worker. Was a fan of TNA when he was X-Divisioning and he was old school ROH. I assume he sucked at talent relations but that’s mean assumptions on my part off of poor communication comments made by people no longer with the company. RIP Marko. Was never my favorite but a legend.

Chuck Taylor: I love Chunk Taylor. Keep him as a tag guy. Interview adlibs are money. Maybe a trio title run or something cute.

Claudio: BCC Claudio is the best thing they could have done for him. He comes across as an athletic scary dick. He struggled at showing personality in WWE (in UUDD he oozed it, along with Athena and others!!!!!) but in AEW he has tapped into something. He likes puns, but he’s super competitive and petty mad when he loses.

CM Punk: Edgy Cody + Wordsmith Bret

Colt Cabana: Indy Icon. You can’t let him go or Punk will be blamed. Very fun to watch live.

Colton Gunn: Read his brother but less abrasive and more entitled scoffing at people looking mother fucker. Fuck him. Good stuff.

Fuck this was annoying to do on here. Next time I’ll use notes in my phone. I regret this and might have typos. 

[John E. Dynamite]

2 hours ago, Matt D said:

Chris Jericho: I don't know, guys. I really liked Jericho vs Keith Lee and no one else did and the Strong match was great due to smoke and mirrors, but I haven't loved his 2023 even if I think his 2022 was very, very strong.

I'm very comfortable with being down on matches that I know the general internet population will love. I would assume most of us figured that feeling out years ago. But I haven't felt a critical dissonance from a (male) wrestling match the way I did Jericho/Lee all year. Loved it, rushed to the internet to talk about it, read the reactions, bit a hole in my lip and sipped a little more brown stuff than usual. That one hurt me.

[zendragon]

I liked Jericho v Lee I also want a Cash solo HOSSWEIGHT run

[Matt D]

Ds

Danhausen: I don't think they've been doing nearly enough with him while he's been injured. Sometimes I wonder if that's a contractual thing. They had Bowens on the road in the wheelchair for instance, but we're not hearing Danielson on commentary right now even though he was so good in that role a few months ago. They do the "injury extensions" just like WWE does. In ring, he's ok in short doses. I feel like them bringing out the monster character should happen once every two or three years and they've already gone to that well. They've sort of only scratched the surface with him, I guess. I want to see Jarrett vs Danhausen. I want to see Samoa Joe vs Danhausen. I want to see Punk get fed up and destroy him, etc.

Daniel Garcia: Ah, the joy of start stop pushes. There's a lot of Garcia going around. He is in the match on Wednesday. He just lost to Shibata. Sometimes he's collateral damage for Jericho's stuff. At one point it looked like he'd resent Sammy and now it seems like Sammy might resent him, but then they found their way together and now they both resent Jericho. I'm very high on him. The dancing bit is getting over but it's also the case of taking something ("Red Death") that wasn't entirely broken and trying to fix it. It's a calculated risk but by leaning hard into it and getting it over in time, he has all of what he was before, plus the new stuff, plus the huge moment to come some day when he admits that he's a wrestler. Of course, after that massive pop and turn they'll probably cool him off by accident again, because that's kind of what AEW does. Hopefully it happens on Collision where the focus is a little tighter? He's a student of the game who watches joshi and shootstyle and everything else and I can only imagine how good he'll be in a few years looking at how good he is now. He's not even 25 yet.

Dante Martin: Is out. I'm excited for him to come back because Darius and Andretti have progressed in his absence. He had lapped his brother at one point so it's good that they were able to catch up even if the way it happened was crummy. I really thought Top Flight's big story was going to be winning the ROH titles towards the end of 2023 so now we'll have to see what happens.

Darby Allin: Look at the week he had wrestling both Swerve and Suzuki in very different matches. He's the greek chorus for AEW on the mic (though it's never the strongest thing) and has such credibility in the ring as the guy who will throw himself at his opponents, will survive and survive and survive, can come back or win at a second's notice. He's a workhorse so he's wrestled a lot of the people I'd want to see him wrestle but there are still match-ups to come. Let me put it this way: I was thinking how much I wanted to see Darby vs Christian instead of Darby vs Luchasaurus and then I paused and shrugged and decided I wanted to see that too. That wouldn't be the case for a lot of the roster. 

Darius Martin: It took me a while to figure out just how Darius fit when Dante was such a breakout, impressive talent. Yes, you need the straight man in a pairing sometimes, but brushing up against the BCC and the Kingdom has helped him along. I think he's developing into a pretty good striker and if he leans into that more he could balance Dante. We think of Dante as being super young, but Darius is only 23. He should keep trying to find his lane. He's never going to look spectacular next to Dante but he could look formidable instead. 

Dax Harwood: Dax had a rough month or two. The guy who should have had the best Jarrett match had the worst, that kind of thing. I think it was a combination of injuries and personal things. He's lost a certain amount of credibility with the fanbase. At the same time, we understand his mindset a lot more which is both a pro and a con. It takes me out of his matches because I'm looking for specific things, but it also lets me appreciate his matches all the more. Probably not what he'd want, but he's also not wrestling for me, even if I am amenable to a lot of what he's doing. Good news is that he seems quite a bit sharper since Collision started. He just helped me learn how to see the strings in his matches, which again, good and bad. I do miss the podcast.

Dustin Rhodes: Still has it. I'm glad he's been wrestling just a little more. I'm not sure the tag team with Keith Lee is productive since it's mainly there to go up against Swerve whenever they need to do that. I'd maybe team him with Brock Anderson, or give him another run towards the ROH title against now heel Claudio. He understands the timing of babyface comebacks better than anyone though sometimes that gets a little short circuited by the needs of the commercial breaks. He's another guy I'd love to see on Collision just a bit. Throw him up against Luchasaurus and Christian for instance. Sometimes he'll do a "middle aged and crazy" type move or bump for the sake of it when he really doesn't have to but it pops the crowd so what are you going to do? There are dozens of people on the roster I still want to see him wrestle before it's all said and done.

Es

Eddie Kingston: Give him the belt for a Dusty run of a few weeks! Screw him out of it to get more heat on the heel. They've never even done Eddie Kingston vs MJF! They can always do Kingston vs Punk again. He's only ever wrestled Cole once, in 2011. We've all talked and written enough about Eddie. He's the guy who understands how to make the king's road style matter. Amazing folk hero connection with the crowd, heart on his sleeve, etc. I do think that when he get to live his dream and wrestle Japanese guys, the lack of contrast blunts that understanding. He gives way to the excess in trying to prove himself and meet them head on. Where it makes him stand out in AEW, it becomes a lot of noise in NJPW. He's living his dream so you don't complain, but if he took it the other way... showed his understanding of both American Pro Wrestling and Japanese Strong-Style, so that he was more AJPW in AEW and more AEW in NJPW, it'd almost certainly be better. I want nothing but good things for him though.

Ethan Page: Probably has peaked as a babyface already with the MJF match. I like Page. He seems like a really good guy. He has deceptive size that they don't play into enough but that makes him work very well against a guy like Darby or Danielson or Cassidy. Probably could have a good 6 year mid card run in the WWE. Would make a very good ROH TV champ. Would be a fun Andrade feud? I don't know. I thoroughly enjoyed the C show stuff with Matt Hardy. He was a lot of fun with a mic on the apron stooging and doing bits. They should have leaned into it even more. Between the toys and the vlog and the pure Canadian-ness of the guy, he really fits into AEW. I just don't know what the right move with him would be.

Evil Uno/Luther: I wrote about both of them recently and will just repost this here: There's a relatively low ceiling for both of them. Luther is there to bedevil Serpentico with bad advice and self-inflicted damage with the occasional bit of positive motivation and effective tactics. Despite his age, he cuts a more imposing figure than Evil Uno. Uno serves more as an interesting and dissonant piece of background imagery. He catches your eye and adds to the overall weirdness that makes pro wrestling so unique and amazing. Neither of their primary skills, deathmatch wrestling for Luther and complex spot-laden tags for Uno are at play currently. In fact, I've always found Silver/Reynolds to be more talented in that area than Uno and I think Uno's big chances at singles matches, vs Moxley and Danielson have disappointed, the Danielson match far more than the Moxley match. Even in the latter, he bled big and again, it was an interesting visual overall, but the things that make him special on offense weren't tapped into in either case. The usefulness of both tends to be stunted with the lack of Dark/Elevation. They were great cogs in multi-man tags filling time and providing extra bits of substance and entertainment against the Wingmen or Best Friends or even each other during 2021-2022. Even then, I found Luther's act a little broader (especially bolstered by Wight's fun commentary) than Uno tossing his opponent's leg to either an other opponent or the ref EVERY match. Spots like that should be rarer though at least he switched it up. There's less of a need for that entertaining time-filling on ROH TV. It remains to be seen what role Uno will have after the apparent heel turn and the match on Friday against the Righteous. Serpentico and Luther are making themselves additionally useful with agent work.

Gs

Griff Garrison: I always thought Griff was the breakout talent of the Blonds but post-injury, I can't really remember why. More size, more intensity, better looking stuff, better instincts? There are worse things they can do than make him Jungle Boy's "stunt double." Again, he's only 25 or so. I've only seen him once since his return from injury. TBD.

Hs

Hook: There's a world where they kept using Hook every other week in squashes and he would have been a big star right now, but one that they could only do so much with. Instead they built him more slowly and as being part of more feuds. It was good for him to tag with Hardy and others on House Rules shows, or just wrestle Page over and over again. It let him work more fleshed out matches and sell more. He's been able to dip his toes into the water, and he's showing ever-increasing aptitude as he goes while not losing the aura overall. Now let's see how he does with a very personal feud and as part of the chase. I don't want to be too focused on age but you kind of have to with these young guys. He's 24 and maybe half a year younger than Garcia. It's just interesting to put him and Griff and the Martin bros and Brock Anderson (26!) all into perspective with one another. 

[Log]

Quote

I really thought Top Flight's big story was going to be winning the ROH titles towards the end of 2023 so now we'll have to see what happens.

Based on nothing but my own speculation, I have to wonder if they were originally supposed to win the titles in that ladder match where Dante got injured.

If they had to call an audible and went with Lucha Bros, that might explain why they didn't defend them very much. Maybe made the call without knowing their upcoming availability too much. Who knows?

[Shartnado]

Shit, I wish I had the patience to write anything this well thought out. Knowing me, I'd have to add punchlines and stuff, so that would be even more trouble. Either way, this is awesome @Matt D, keep it up!

[JLowe]

1 hour ago, Log said:

Based on nothing but my own speculation, I have to wonder if they were originally supposed to win the titles in that ladder match where Dante got injured.

If they had to call an audible and went with Lucha Bros, that might explain why they didn't defend them very much. Maybe made the call without knowing their upcoming availability too much. Who knows?

I didn't see that PPV but I've always felt that way. 

[Just Dave]

@Matt D I really dug that write up on adam Cole. At my last therapy session my counselor and I discussed how much I struggle when I don’t understand something. I’ve told y’all before that my mom thought I was on the spectrum until I was 8 or so, and one of the reasons why is my inflexibility with what I think is good/bad. I am so convinced that adam Cole is awful that it feels like I’m being gaslit when other people talk about how much they like him. None of his in ring choices make a lick of sense to me, and I don’t understand the idea that he’s someone to be aspired to. You were able to verbalize so succinctly the root of my issues with Cole, and we’re able to do it without the elevator shafts and voodoo curses that usually accompany my “critiques” of Cole.

[Matt D]

No elevator curses here. I think I'm through the worst of it for me. But there sure are a lot of wrestlers on this roster!

Is

Isiah Kassidy: It was interesting to go back to old Segunda Caida workrate reports for Dynamite and see Eric really hating on Private Party. I like Kassidy. He's obviously a wrestling fan and he really cares and throws everything he has into things. I think the association with Matt Hardy has helped over the years as has having to fend for himself when Quen has been injured. He almost seemed like he might even break through at some point. That point has passed. The moaning thing is a pretty low ceiling gimmick unfortunately and there's only so far he can get cribbing off Matt now. Or at least, off of the Broken gimmick. There are trademark issues but if I was Matt, I'd pause and rethink this, and maybe figure out how to go with the V1 gimmick for Kassidy instead?

Js

Jack Perry: He had some good performances in the last year, mainly against Christian and Luchasaurus, but he's a heel now and so far he's been trying to change his style, or at least that's the impression I'm getting, and I like the effort so far. Need to see more though. Needs the 90210 theme already though. I'm not sure what you do with Hook if he doesn't win the FTW title back but I wouldn't mind Perry getting a run.

Jake Hager: Good for an 8 minute goofy match with a bunch of suplex and bullying guys around. The sort of thing that you don't really want to see but then you didn't mind watching one bit. He's been in Jericho's circle so long that I'm not sure what else he could be, maybe the "ace" of the Varsity Athletes? He and Woods would be a fairly interesting team, no?

Jay Lethal: A sure thing. AEW always needs midcard heels that can eat pins but stay credible and all of Lethal's experience and accolades make him that guy. I'd rather he lose right now than Perry, for instance. I think he's had plenty of very good performances in AEW, just solid, fundamental stuff, often focused on a direct story or limbwork. I'm not sure the team with Jarrett works in conventional matches but it certainly does in over the top ones. And he's a good guy to work with Satnam. People groan, but they're wrong.

Jay White: Weirdly, I have almost less of a sense of him after the recent tags than I did when he was working singles earlier this year. I like the liberties he takes with Tony Schiovane. On the mic he just sort of relaxes and stretches into the moment. It's not smooth but it is believable. He can go full workrate like the world's best Rollins but can also lean into heel bullshit chinlocks during a commercial break and stick the timing on the comebacks and cutoffs. I need to see more.

Jeff Hardy: Too early to know for sure this run, I guess? He still has that dopey ragdoll charisma. His match with Darby last year was hide behind the couch scary in a fairly compelling way, but that was when he was in a worse place.

Jeff Jarrett: Jarrett is absolutely a guy who stood still as the world moved around him and now he's the only one in the world doing his act. He gets heat, is infuriating, knows all the tricks, is a joy to watch, and I enjoy the podcast a lot too. Plus, unlike Dax, there's such a dissonance between what I hear on the podcast and what I see in the ring so it doesn't throw me. I'm excited to see him interact with everyone, and I mean everyone.

John Silver: I want to give Reynolds the credit for the layouts, but you figure Silver is a part of it. I want him in either a team or an endless feud with Menard. There was a point a year and a half ago where he was almost a folk hero, sort of a Bugsy McGraw or even a Jimmy Valiant but that time passed. Too much time on the webshows and eating falls because the Dark Order were the credible babyfaces that could lose. He should have a job but probably not a push at this point.

Johnny TV: Morrison in 2023 is someone I like a lot more than Morrison in 2013. I think it was the Lucha Underground run when he really came off like a star, but he's like Sydal as a guy who can hit stuff clean but also has become less annoying relative to other spotty guys because spotty guys have become so much more annoying in general. Plus he's older and wiser and more thoughtful in putting things together. Put him back with Taya. It's always been a good act.

Jon Moxley: We never REALLY got Stop the Moxley. We got closer and closer though. I like him as a maniacal violent force of nature whose idea of wrestling is blood and spit and pain. I'm fine with him bleeding every match. I think he doesn't go far enough! There should be a sense of danger whenever he's on screen and there isn't. He isn't unhinged. He's just wrestler guy. They tried to do it with things like Callis getting cut open but I just don't buy it. He's a big bloody teddy bear deep down. Sorry. Still, Cassidy better damn well beat him if they feud.

Josh Woods: One of the most underutilized guys on the roster, I think. I'm not sure, but I think. Could be a great heater for someone but also has the sort of personality that would fit right in with the Best Friends or Dark Order. I'm looking forward to see him against Shibata. I think they could do more with him.

Juice Robinson: He's having a moment certainly. The pairing with the Gunns feels out of control and chaotic in a way that Moxley should but doesn't. He's so over the top that he's doing stuff that no one else does and really stands out. Not to invoke him twice but it feels like the sort of eccentric that Rollins wishes he was. He's a Batman villain in the best way. He's gone from compelling to ridiculous to serene, all the way around. Let's see how far he can take it.

Ks

Keith Lee: Yeah, I'm a fan of partially broken down half speed Keith Lee, because they treat him like a massive force who guys bounce off of. Again, he's contrast. If he's doing a bunch of flips and athletic counters, he's just another guy, just bigger. If he's being a brick wall who can do maybe one impressive athletic move a match and has the timing and physical charisma and presence to play into the crowd and if everyone's gotten the memo to be wary of him, he stands out and I really like him. Life has forced him into this role but it's a lot better for him and everyone else. He's an amazing gatekeeper if nothing else.

Kenny Omega: Perfect is the enemy of good.

Kip Sabian: I fully understand that Kip was probably kind of dreadful when he first showed up in AEW but after the long time out where he just sat and watched wrestling, I like the goofball. Over the top supervillain who would shout out his evil plan to you as he's kicking you in the ribs. That's Kip. I wouldn't want twenty of him or even three of him, but there's basically only one and he has a role. I loved the Orange Cassidy feud where he kept pulling at Cassidy's friends and pushed him to the limit. That was the sort of storytelling you rarely see in wrestling. I think he knows what a big leap it is for him to get over so he really tries a lot of stuff and it's not all moves and spots like other people.

Komander: Maybe I'm crazy but it does feel like Komander is improving and broadening out over the weeks as he works more guys in different styles. He's still the rope walk guy but it's starting to play in just a little more organically and he's doing enough else in the matches to give me some hope for him as a wrestler in the long haul. And of course, the spectacular stuff is truly spectacular.

Konosuke Takeshita: I kept going into his matches hoping for the best. He brings so much to the table with size and hard hitting and explosiveness, and I was frustrated time and again with the way he structured his matches and his early escalation. Just really big, really dumb, really stupid matches from a guy who is supposed to be something else entirely. But I do think he's turned the corner a bit as a heel with the viciousness and I'm open to giving him another shot. But just one.

Kyle Fletcher: Promising! Another 24 year old. He has size and attitude and swagger. I worry that Aussie Open may be a bit too "things break down" for me, overall, but I've liked Fletcher's singles performances. He needs to broaden out with different opponents and different situations, but he has time to get there. I like the stupid hammerlock reverse lift because no one does it and it's like a pumphandle in that it is a good way to get someone up. Just a clever bit of positioning and he should do more with it than the tombstone. He's not there yet for me but I could see him get there as a rival to some of the other young guys in AEW.

Kyle O'Riley: I liked Bobby Fish more I think? He's way out and I don't have a great sense of him.

[John E. Dynamite]

I loathed KOR like I loathed post-Sapolsky ROH Mouthguard/Kickpad Pooroh Ressoo. Then he went to NXT and I realized he has within him this brilliant capacity to be a pale diabetic Canadian stooge. Like he's really good at being the guy who gets knocked off the apron when your PWG main event six man tag breaks down, for whatever that's worth. I'd really like to see him be the fall guy of a heel stable that doesn't involve A*** C***. 

[Octopus]

Danhausen: He’s both not for me but I completely get why the act is so beloved. I prefer in YouTube skits as opposed to in matches. Saying that, the HookHausen was fun. Consider me won over? hmmm eh

Daniel Garcia: The world could be his oyster.  I think he leans too heavily into the taunts (you’re stepping on my Penta’s turf, buddy) but it’s taking him from guy who is good at wrestling to getting crowd responses to his personality. Agree with Matt on the booking of him. This goes back to the Danielson feud that played out a tad awkwardly (great matches though). Maybe it’s just an AEW midcard storytelling problem. I’ll get to Sammy later on that. I really like Garcia and he’s one of the wrestlers I’m most excited to see hopefully rise up the card and get even better. Hopefully a good forever feud with Yuta. 

Dante Martin: bummed he’s injured. 

Darby Allin: When I first saw him I got the appeal and he wasn’t for me. It’s hard not to become a fan of how differently he moves and the wildness of his matches. Him vs Samoa Joe was special. If they can give him the Sting retirement blessing the right way, he’ll be ready for the future main event spot. If MJF stays or returns to evil, I want Kingston to dethrone him, but past rivalry and history would point to Darby being the AEW savior. 

Darius Martin: I saw him as Air Wolf in F1rst Wrestling. He could fly then too!

Dax Harwood: I’ll be personal. Hearing him be open about his family’s miscarriage on his podcast was heartbreaking and I love him as a person I’ll likely never talk to. Very flawed, sensitive, unable to not take things personal, and open hearted to the degree that it shines through his in ring fire. Yelling into the camera that Tony should be playing their music because their the champs after a Cole-MJF segment was very him. I shake my head but also lightly smile. I think he’s a special worker, will always be unnecessarily controversial (CM Punk Lite), and is important to the modern AEW landscape. 

Dustin Rhodes: Legend and still a great worker. 

Eddie Kingston: Mick Kobawada. Or Kenta Kawoley. Or Toshiaki Folashi. I agree with the observation of his Japanese work, but give me his excess! Long live chopping maximalism! Maybe it’ll hurt in a personal GWE List, but it’s like how people do silly matches in DDT and I personally don’t hold it against them. With his story he is open about as both a character and a human, it makes sense he’d wrestle this style. Pro or Con (I hope to ramble more soon), it’s his AEW work I should talk about. I hope he is the dethroner of an evil champ and I cry.

Ethan Page: Respectfully, probably really good but I haven’t been given a good enough reason to care about him. 

Evil Uno: I’ve rambled on him recently. It was very thought provoking 

Griff Garrison: See Ethan Page

Hook: Reps. He is handsome and cool. I want to see him sell and react to more situations in matches. Have him work a dark/ house match against Dustin Rhodes. You want to keep his aura, but I’m in the camp that if he got Goldberged AEW fans would likely tire of him like the Powerbomb Symphony if not given depth of good matches. I’m excited for his JungleBoy feud. 

 

Hmmmm. I don’t want to type more. I’ll sadly watch a YouTube video of people playing board games.

[Eivion]

2 hours ago, Matt D said:

Kyle O'Riley: I liked Bobby Fish more I think? He's way out and I don't have a great sense of him.

 

20 minutes ago, John E. Dynamite said:

I loathed KOR like I loathed post-Sapolsky ROH Mouthguard/Kickpad Pooroh Ressoo. Then he went to NXT and I realized he has within him this brilliant capacity to be a pale diabetic Canadian stooge. Like he's really good at being the guy who gets knocked off the apron when your PWG main event six man tag breaks down, for whatever that's worth. I'd really like to see him be the fall guy of a heel stable that doesn't involve A*** C***. 

The KOR talk just makes me want to remind people he had what might have been one of the best NXT title matches ever against Finn Balor a few years back. He still best as a tag guy with some goofy stooge aspects, but he can be pretty great when called to rise. 

[John E. Dynamite]

15 minutes ago, Eivion said:

 

The KOR talk just makes me want to remind people he had what might have been one of the best NXT title matches ever against Finn Balor a few years back. He still best as a tag guy with some goofy stooge aspects, but he can be pretty great when called to rise. 

I dug the hell out of his Moxley match too. He's a guy I want to be a strong-style stooge 4 outta 5 times, who can then flip to I-LimeWired-too-much-04-KENTA mode and drop a killer singles when he needs to get his credibility back.

[Curt McGirt]

I miss Bobby Fish.

[Matt D]

Ls

Lance Archer: I'm biased towards certain guys due to the webshows and how they were used there. Lance was used by dragging his enhancement opponent out while his music was still going and beating him around the ring, with a fair share of either giving fans what they wanted with "one more time" chants or denying them while also potentially scaring kids in the crowd. It was a good act. I think they struggle in using him because you have to come up with clever ways for most of the roster to even dent him but they also don't see money in pushing him. He's 46 and doesn't have the name value of most of the other guys over 45 that they push. It's a tricky situation. I'd probably put him in a tag with a younger big guy with promise (best I'm coming up with is Zack Clayton who seems like a bad fit in some ways but you could just power through that for his sake?).

Lee Johnson: Really unfortunate injury for Lee last year. I wonder where he'd be if he didn't get that. He was coming along. Then the web shows and the Factory ended after he came back. He's only wrestled 7 matches in 2023. Another 25 year old with tons of promise but he's only even made ROH TV once. Not sure what's up with him. I get the sense that Collision and losing the webshows took Khan by surprise because why do things like the Johnson turn if you're just going to scrap them. If he's healthy and willing, what's the point of ROH if not to highlight a guy like him, right?

Lee Moriarty: In my mind, and you're free to disagree, Lee has come very far in the last year and a half. I get that he was a name on the indies but his stuff was very cutesy and floaty and now there's a lot more weight behind it. I can't imagine he's not putting in the extra work and he's also faced off against BCC and others who pushed him, plus he had the heel turn to lean into. Punk's injury hurt him more than anyone probably, because he lost the chance to have his Yuta vs Mox style break out performance against Punk. The guitar bit and dancing and whatever else are all things he should be trying, but I'm not sure any of them are hitting and you can just tell that Bill is starting to leave him behind in reactions and presence. I still think the answer for all these young guys (and Lee is a little older, but it's ok) is a Super Generation Army type stable.

Luther: See Evil Uno

Malakai Black: He shaved. It's weird. He had an indy match teaming with Kevin Blackwood in July. Also weird. He hasn't had a singles match on AEW TV since last June unless I'm mistaken. That in and of itself protects him to the point where you wonder if a singles match with Andrade would actually be big enough to be on the All In card. It also makes it a little hard to talk about his work overall. I mainly picture him coming in and hitting the black mass and that's about it. I probably overvalue the Dante match from a couple of years ago for both of them but it's one of my favorite AEW TV matches ever (note that I hadn't revisited it). He can just tear apart a guy and I'd like to see more of House of Black up against younger guys. But then I'd also like to see them against the BCC and I'd like to see them against Punk and FTR and I'd like to see them against LFI reunited, so... I guess that's all good news.

Mark Briscoe: Unfortunately injured. He's such a great TV character, like a Kramer or Fonz or whatever. Just the wacky neighbor who shows up and steals the scene. I love the use of big words. In ring, he's got that JYD folk hero attraction vibe, but with more physicality and versatility. I think he hasn't quite uncovered what he is and can be as of yet and I can understand that because it has to be both the easiest and the hardest thing in the world for him. He's always over and the fans will always care and for good heels, that's gold to play off of.

Mark Davis: I need to see more. I have a better sense of Fletcher because he kept working when Davis was out. I'm not sure he's the guy to help Fletcher with his youthful excesses in ring though. I'll leave it at that until I see more. I am very glad they have the belts instead of the Lucha Bros.

Mark Sterling: He's on the list for some reason. Yes, the legal stories end up being a bit much but at least they switch them up a bit, being about moves or contracts or trademarks or whatever. I think Khan writes what he knows and Sterling isn't afraid to bump or look like a fool. I liked the little bit where he came out talking about dumb laws certain places had. I like managers in general and much prefer having too many than too few like modern WWE. He also does a great job marketing himself with his fake law ads on twitter.

Marq Quen: He's been out more than in since I've been watching AEW. I don't have strong feelings about him one way or the other. My guess is that he's behind Kassidy in overall development but it's hard to fault him for it considering.

Matt Hardy: I've been watching since late summer/fall 2021 and almost every Matt Hardy performance has been good. Past how I feel about the Elite, Takeshita, and the Lucha Bros, the biggest disagreement between myself and the internet as a whole is about Hardy. The only times he errs is the rare time he's up against someone like Sammy and feels like he needs to do too much to prove something and that is very rare. Just basic, solid fundamentally sound stuff. The delete shots in the corner are over. He'll do ten punches. Yes, he's broken down, but this is ECW champ Matt who can go out and work very smart TV matches that are exactly what they need to be. A great recent example of that is the Jungle Boy match. The thing with Page was entertaining on the Webshows for months. He has a role, he has a ceiling, he should be used in a specific way, but when his music hits, he's always one of the top ten over guys in the company. Always. And he knows how to work a match and work the crowd as well as just about anyone on the roster.

Matt Jackson: Beats me. I can't speak to the differences between the Jacksons because I don't watch their stuff. We just have a very different notion of what tag team wrestling should be. Last match I saw in any meaningful way was the FTR match last year. They can do what I would want them to do. They just choose not to for philosophical reasons. 80% of the time that I decide to give them a shot against opponents that might constrain them (like the House of Black) I come off regretting it. I'm expecting to regret it tonight with Jarrett/Lethal/Satnam, but we'll see.

Matt Menard: Love the guy. In the ring, he wrestles like he's part of the Rock'n'Roll RPMs or something. Very late 80s mid-card heel stooge tag team stuff, but it's refreshing because no one else is doing it. He, like Silver, has this bizarre star power that probably confuses him. It can only go so far, but he can be a beloved mascot type character for years, with the bug eyes and the catch phrases and the voice. He should get a nice little face run at some point, but we're talking enjoyable mid-card comedy with heart stuff.

Matt Sydal: Solid as can be. He's another guy who benefited from the world moving past where he had been. At one point, he'd been at a far extreme and now he's probably a little behind the curve but the stuff he does hits with a little extra meaning and relevance because of all of his experience. He's there to help young guys and to lose to get heels over and that's ok. When he's put in there with someone like Danielson, he can still really go. He did something called "Kill City Cup" this year where he was Neo-Shaman but I don't care enough to figure out what that was. If I had fifteen dollars to build a roster, he'd be one of those $2 guys that you'd want to snatch up.

Matt Taven: Urgh, he's growing on me. DEAN loved Taven. He's such a dork with his vocals in ring and his expressions that sometimes it's hard not to like the guy a little. I'll get to Bennett in a minute. Obviously I don't want him to be my world champion or TV champ but as part of the Kingdom (even as ROH champs, not that they are anything but gatekeepers) he's fine. I'd like to see him get punched in the face which is not a bad quality for a heel to have.

Max Caster: Max is a good sight better than he was a couple of years ago when it was obvious Bowens was the steak and he was the sizzle (though Bowens is still clearly better). He's also had less chances to be in singles matches so maybe I'm just not able to judge it well? He should get a few more of those. If MJF goes hard heel again they should run him against both members of the Acclaimed in singles matches. If he stays as a tag team with Cole, maybe they should run it as a tag?

Michael Nakazawa: He has the oil gimmick right? He had one funny comedy match with that against someone like Avalon over the last few years. I like Cutler. It's not like Nakazawa works much.

Mike Bennett: Now this guy I like. He's got that Arn Anderson journeyman grit going for him. Great timing. Good looking stuff. Some wonky tag moves but nothing out of left field on his own. Willing to bump and bleed and give and give and give. Credible with everything he does. I want to see him do some more pure rules matches. I want to see Kingdom vs FTR too. They teased that and never paid it off. He seems like the kind of guy who could work with Dax and Cash perfectly.

Miro: I like that he's positioned as a face since he's such a good seller. But he is also really good at working in certain vulnerabilities while being a monster heel (like Brock but far less annoying). He reminds me of Archer in that I don't think Khan knows how to book him. He's bigger (both in size and presence) than most of the things around him so how do you deal with that week in and week out without having him win all the time. I sort of liked using him as the attraction who could team with Sting and Darby but that's not sustainable I guess.

Mr. Brodie Lee: He's on the roster page. I missed his run and only went back a bit but I saw his debut on the megavideo they posted and it was all him calling out Christopher Daniels which was kind of funny. The second you know the promotion has took a woeful turn is when they stop leading off every Dynamite with "It's Wednesday and you know what that means."

Mr. Brodie Lee Jr.: Better at AEW Fight Forever than you. Probably could be an amazing heel manager in a couple of years.

Ns

Nick Comoroto: Instantly credible. Has worked to be very good at losing in situations where he probably shouldn't on paper. At slipping on banana peels and having all of his limbs broken by Penta. He's a monster and you know they're not going to push him as such so he's there to make others look good while still coming off as dangerous. He's a 1989 mid card WWF heel who can be there in the background as part of a survivor series team or for the coronation of King Haku or lose to Hogan on a SNME in six minutes. He's a member of the Dungeon of Doom or the NWO B Team. He could be someone's bodyguard in a heartbeat. He's a personal favorite.

Nick Jackson: See Matt Jackson

Nick Wayne: Should go to Japan and work pure mat based matches with no high spots for a year. Should have a feud with Christian over his dad. Should eventually turn on Darby and have a baby bottle match like Razor Ramon and 123 Kid had. I worry a little that he was rewarded with too much too soon when it comes to in ring habits, but he has so much time to develop. Mainly I look forward to see what he can do against monsters. If he's up against other flippy guys, that isn't nearly as interesting to me. I do like the idea that the 27 year olds will have to deal with the 24 year olds who will have to deal with the 20 year olds, etc. There's something potentially there in AEW if they figure out how to tap into it.

[Just Dave]

Nakazawa & Cutler had that tag against Mox & Swiss Claude that was way more fun than it had any right to be. I thought that was booked absolutely flawlessly. Nak & Cut got just enough in that they could look themselves in the mirror and still feel like men. I really, really loved that.

[Curt McGirt]

I think Lance might work best if not in that tag idea as their 911. Just hit his music and have an "oh shit, here comes Mongo" moment, he destroys somebody with the Blackout, and leaves. 

For a fed with a zillion belts it's criminal that Miro doesn't have one. It would be so much cooler to have a Being Miro title instead of a Being CM Punk title. 

[Curt McGirt]

Oooo, how about this. Miro comes in a crushes Jungle Jack and takes the FTW. Hook then feuds with Miro which Jack keeps interfering, like an annoying mosquito buzzing around the title. Then you get your dumb fucking three-way dance like you know TK will book, and Hook either takes it back or Miro keeps it while Jack gets swatted down. 

[Zimbra]

I've beaten this horse to death, but: Menard is so damn great.  Just throws himself fully into whatever he does.  He and Parker's Bulk & Skull act with Garcia hit just the right balance between dangerous maliciousness and goofy incompetence.  His post B&G promo all covered in dried blood is like a top-3 on the mic moment in AEW.  Whenever he retires he could be an amazing mouthpiece for somebody if he wants to go that route.

And because this is DVDVR: he also has some of the best punches in AEW.

[Matt D]

Os

Ortiz: Workhorse Ortiz with his Rick Rude swivel. I know there are some people who think he might get back with Santana but can you imagine an Ortiz/Rocky Romero team? That'd be a lot of fun. Just lean hard into the sneaky style stuff. He had some fun stuff last year with the Jericho hair match and the Ruby Soho team and the Kingston team on the web shows. I had a problem with Proud and Powerful on the web shows because their enhancement matches were just hitting a bunch of finishers without any of the brutal connective tissue that might make, let's say, a Steiner Brothers match fun. I get the sense I might not like them in conventional matches? I don't know.

PAC: I don't necessarily like PAC in trios but he's an impactful little goblin in singles matches. I think a lot of what makes him interesting is who he's up against though. I wouldn't want to see PAC vs Sammy. I would want to see PAC vs Darby. I wouldn't want to see PAC vs Andretti. I would want to see PAC vs Kingston. He's got a good hybrid style against half the roster but it'd be a lot of noise against the other half, basically. If they keep running with MJF/Cole, he'd be a fun partner for Roddy, for instance (they have PWG history).

Parker Boudreaux: What the hell AEW? Why is this guy still on the roster page so I have to write about him? He has one of the worst matches (albeit a tag) against Dustin I can think of. They need to farm him out to an indy where he can work every week. Obviously there's something there size and look wise, unfortunate tattoos or no. But he has a long, long way to go. If he can ever get there when it comes to the intangibles.

Paul Wight: So he's really good for local promotion. I've heard him do some radio spots. I'm sure this hasn't worked out quite like he wanted. He was working hard to be a commentator but was put into situations where there was too much color and not enough play by play. They bought the rights to Captain Insano and he's bound to show up eventually, right? I have this six act play on how he helps Menard go face, but it's not going to happen. I have no idea what he can do in the ring right now.

Penta El Zero M: I have a lot more tolerance for Penta in a singles match than I do in tags. I know this will sound like gatekeeping but lucha rules doesn't actually mean "no momentum shifts and anything goes." To have lucha tags without tecnico/rudo norms that help impose the narrative simply doesn't work. That's what we get with Lucha Bros matches. Just guys coming in whenever and hitting stuff whenever and it's just stupid spots and noise. In a singles match, his taunt BS works a lot better because you can build more of a back and forth around it with actual consequences. He's a guy who can always challenge for a title and have it be interesting. But I hate him in tags.

Peter Avalon: This is the flip side of me having to write about Boudreaux. I'm glad Peter's still on a tier 1 contract or whatever, that he's still valued enough to be on the website. I actually find him less interesting and entertaining than Cutler. Some of that, however, was that he simply wasn't allowed to do anything with meaning. He was a wrestler for the sake of being a wrestler. A guy in a match who had a character but no actual motivations. The one time he had a motivation, when he lost his chance against Starks, he didn't really get to capitalize on it at all. I get that they're building to bigger matches but it's AEW. It's the WRESTLING promotion that gives times to things. They don't capitalize on that well in a way that lets them build to something in the future with the guy who is just the cog. As for his in-ring? He's fine. He hits stuff clean. I'd like to see him lean into character even more in his antics.

Powerhouse Hobbs: They sure didn't think through that last push huh? Lots of start/stop and him as the Dark Match on Collision. Fans really do want to cheer for him so hopefully they go that way but then you end up with Miro, Hobbs, and Andrade all as tweener babyfaces who shouldn't be taking losses. Even with all the titles, it's just so hard to protect guys long term in AEW I guess? He's had some fun stuff on House Rules. He knows how to wrestle pretty much exactly like he should. Do you put him back with Starks? Do you have him go face fully and win the TNT title from Luchasaurus? I don't know. If Punk goes heel, he couldn't possibly have a better heater.

Preston Vance: Again, not great at capitalizing on moments, that AEW. He got the most heat possibly by turning on the kid that should be untouchable, and then not a whole lot of follow up. I get that he had to learn how to be a heel again and wrestle without a mask again, etc. On some level, wrestling with a mask theoretically helped him learn how to use his body more to get reactions which should only be enhanced now that he has the face back again. Working with RUSH has helped his intensity. They had one really good brawl with the BCC. Again, the problem is that they can only push so many people but an old Infernales vs Misionaries rudo vs rudo feud (that one didn't actually happen but you get the idea) with House of Black sounds real good.

Qs

QT Marshall: Yes, he's underrated. Yes, by wrestling like he's underrated and has something to prove, he makes himself less valuable to the company. No, he wouldn't listen to me if I tried to explain that to him. If QT really wanted to show off how amazingly good a hand he was, he'd find a way to stay credible and dangerous and get heat without actually looking impressive. It's not about begrudgingly admitting that he's a great wrestler. It's about him being so good that he can look like a worthless cheating nothing but still frustrate the hell out of a crowd and have them up for the babyface comebacks. Too much of a chip on his shoulder, too much "show don't tell" confidence. There's a world where he might play a different role but in the role he has, I would prefer for him to do it differently. The dirtsheet driver is fun though.

Rs

Rey Fenix: Fine in singles, don't want to see him in tags. With the onset of Vikingo and Komander and Gravity and others, some of what makes him stand out is a little muted now. I think he's technically better/smoother than Penta but Penta brings more to the table in a random singles match.

Ricky Starks: It's a good question. I have a certain level of expectation for Starks and he usually meets it. Occasionally he exceeds it. He sort of works a throwback style but that throwback style is 1998 WWF mid-card babyface. And that's a little weird. I'm not saying there's not a place for it and every few matches he does something that you weren't expecting that impresses you. It's probably good he's going to have a bit of a heel edge again though because cheating would give him more tools in the arsenal. He's a student of the game and I do trust that with opportunities, he'll lean into that knowledge in ways that matter.

Roderick Strong: I think we're on the verge of a heel turn here regardless on how things go. It's nice that he had a few showcase matches as a babyface including the way overachieving Jericho one but I like him as a shitheel jerk from my memory of Evolve. I'm not sure what sort of opportunities he'll have to play that out in AEW but it should be fun. He's a guy you could easily make ROH TV champ too and that could probably have a great run along those lines.

RUSH: If wrestling is about being present in the moment and giving yourself totally to your character and the situations you find yourself in, RUSH is one of the greatest wrestlers imaginable. His method is violence. There isn't a single person on the roster I don't want to see him wrestle. He's a wild rudo's rudo but I'd love for the crowd to get behind him at some point. He's a special talent and I personally think he out Moxes Mox. You can't look away from whatever he might do next in a way that reminds one of Negro Casas or Terry Funk.