AEW Roster A-Z

[Log]

Re: Lance Archer. I've been thinking lately that the AEW tag roster needs a Skyscrapers-type team (and a Road Warriors-type team, too!), and that Archer would be great as half of that team. Not sure who for the other, though.

Re: Peter Avalon. I had the opportunity to run camera for a couple Derby City Wrestling shows where he got to do some character stuff, and he was really great at it, IMO. He just really pulls off that delusional heel thing where he believes he's a lot cooler than he really is. If the YouTube shows were still around, I'd like to think he'd get some shine there.

[Curt McGirt]

Bill destroys lazy-ass Cage and him and Archer team up, how about? Or Archer joins the Embassy and they switch out Cage for Archer? Doesn't even have to be permanent, and Cage could pair up for six-mans. 

[Matt D]

Ss

Sammy Guevara: Pfft. Why are they trying to make babyface Sammy work. It won't work. He's really unlikable! I don't mind him. He's not my favorite guy but he can be a good foil against matches with people I like. I am interested to see a Jericho one-on-one I guess. I liked some of the interactions with MJF when they did the trial run for the far more successful Cole pairing. I think he and Tay can get heat, but they've probably been lapped by Dom and Rhea overall? I don't know. I'm curious if people think Sammy has grown as a wrestler over the last few years or if he just escalates his spots? I'm very neutral on him relatively.

Samoa Joe: Very glad Joe's getting one last run as a monster. There have been some great moments but I love the slow gravity walk. There are half a dozen guys I would rather have the ROH TV title because they need it more whereas Joe is fine just being himself. The matches with Darby were classics. He's the perfect foil for a lot of the flippy babyfaces. I'd love to see him in a hoss fight with Keith Lee though, that kind of thing. Likewise some BCC interaction. The Punk match felt special and there are others that could as well. Use him while you can.

Santana: Don't have a great sense of Santana except for what I said in the Ortiz write up.

Satnam Singh: Some very impressive spots. Some growing sense of when to give and when not to. In one way he's protected by them not using him that much. In another, he needs the reps. If they don't know what to do with Archer, how will they ever manage this guy though? Let's see how he continues to develop. He's much more athletic than a lot of other guys his size in wrestling history.

Scorpio Sky: Watching a Scorpio Sky match is like taking your medicine. It's fine. It's probably good for you. You don't really want to do it. He's solid. He has a nice backbreaker. I like the stupid snap thing but would I not like it more if the Dark Order or someone else did it instead? You get the sense he should be a top guy in TNA? He's fine. But he's a guy who should be like Sydal and eating losses.

Serpentico: Love Serpentico. Pluckiest heel that's ever been. I like his little kick/DDT thing. I like how he just throws himself into everything he's asked to do, incuding sometimes being literally thrown by Luther. He can be a goofy babyface. He's an agent. If Sydal's a $2 pick, Serpentico's a $1 but I pick him without even looking at who is left on the list. What a guy. I hope Nyla gets to power bomb him some day.

Shawn Dean: I'll talk about him when I get to ROH if I don't forget.

Shawn Spears: I'm always glad that he gets a pop in Canada. He can be very entertaining but not when he's trying to be too serious. He should be a stooging heel or underdog babyface not some sort of serious tough guy. I think there's an interesting MJF interaction that could be possible at some point. In general though, say it with me: you need guys who can lose.

Sonjay Dutt: He's on the list. I think he's just a little over the top with the faces and the screamy-ness. I guess maybe he stands out and fits in with Jay and Satnam and Jarrett and Karen but I think if he dialed it back maybe it'd be more effective? Or maybe he has to go even further, but only if they paired him with Juice Robinson somehow.

Sonny Kiss: We got Sonny vs Dalton for a hot second last week. They didn't do enough with that. Sonny's always good for a nice spot/sequence or two and, as a heel second, a solid bit of cheating. The Trustbusters are underutilized but there's no reason for Sonny not to have a roster position. I'd be happy with the Trustbusters (Jeeves/Sonny/Slim J) being the ROH 6-man champs.

Sting: No notes. Wait, one note. Do less stupid things. You're already a made man. People just want you to be you. You don't have anything to prove. Or build to it. Do a six month span where people keep stopping you from doing the stupid things you try and have it all build to one really stupid thing? Makes everything he's in better.

Stokley Hathaway: Underutilized, endlessly entertaining. The bit in the movie theater with the Hardy kids was probably the funniest AEW thing this year. I feel like he'd almost overshadow any talent he was put with though, unless it was a top top guy. The stuff with Joe right now is fun but I'm curious what sort of payoff it might possibly have.

Stu Grayson: Yeah, I like Stu fine. He comes off as tough as nails whether he is or not. he's got that cool flip over the rope thing and a unique finisher. He has a bit of that "you buy him as a maniac" vibe to him, especially now with the Righteous. It seems a shame to have pulled him from the Dark Order right before they were turning and that only plays into the turn if you watch ROH which is just weird.

Swerve Strickland: A star. Very creative. Very athletic and sharp. I really need him against the right opponent. I hate his offense as a babyface but it's a lot better as a heel. That jumping kick out of nowhere is an all time transition/cutoff move. If I have another weird flippy guy against him, I usually hate it since his stuff can have some pretty contrived setups and extra flips. Against contrast or someone like Darby who can really take his stuff, it's better. They have to pull the trigger on him sometime soon or else you lose the moment and paint him as a threat but a loser. He needs gold.

[Curt McGirt]

I have an entirely opposite, totally stupid idea for the Stinger: 

Sting vs. Atsushi Onita, exploding barbed wire and exploding barbed wire bat match. 

DO EEEEEET

EDIT: You know what, that might roll perfect with your idea of people trying to stop him from the idiocy. Onita comes in (smoking, of course) and challenges Sting. The big babies, even Darby, come out and beg him not to do it. Onita keeps jumping him at random on shows. They do a tag (Sting/Darby vs. Onita/?) where Onita makes Sting bleed like a stuck pig. He is champing at the bit. Darby finally relents. Onita gets blowed up real good, Stinger wins. 

This fantasy booking is fun!

EDIT II: Ooooo make Onita an honorary BCC member and put Mox in as his partner!!!

Edited August 2, 2023 by Curt McGirt

[JLowe]

I think 80% of the guys on my list of "meh, I would never deprive anyone of a living but it doesn't necessarily have to be with AEW" are under Matt's "you need guys who can lose" list. The other 20% have been teamed with Big Bill.

[Matt D]

17 minutes ago, JLowe said:

I think 80% of the guys on my list of "meh, I would never deprive anyone of a living but it doesn't necessarily have to be with AEW" are under Matt's "you need guys who can lose" list. The other 20% have been teamed with Big Bill.

Whenever you think about a guy like that, you should pause and think to myself "Would I rather Swerve be taking that fall?"

[JLowe]

5 minutes ago, Matt D said:

Whenever you think about a guy like that, you should pause and think to myself "Would I rather Swerve Adam Cole be taking that fall?"

FIFY

[Just Dave]

42 minutes ago, JLowe said:

FIFY

Are you sure? Because I have VERY different responses depending on how that blank is filled in…

[zendragon]

I wonder if Black is still some what banged up and that accounts for the lack of singles matches?

 I wonder if Parker is still under contract? If so do they send him somewhere to develop like an nba contracted basketball player playing in Europe?

Penta needs a big singles main event next time they run LA

 

[Matt D]

Let's finish up the main roster males.

Ts

The Blade: Journeyman in the same way Bennett or Daivari is. Solid. He's one of those guys who you have to keep an eye out for because he has neat little reactions to things sometimes. He sounds like the Butcher should sound and the Butcher sounds like he should sound. Should have a job for life. Can put over young tag teams forever. 

The Butcher: Obviously got himself into great shape. Is doubly valuable as the second to last guy in every battle royal or someone who can put over an up and coming babyface as a singles guy if need be. I like the alliance with Kip well enough. He's a batman villain. They're the goons with their name on their shirts. 

Tony Nese: Probably the single guy on the roster who most overachieved based on my expectations. He really gets how to commit to a bit and how to be more than just a guy who looks the part and can bring the workrate. He has accepted his lot in life and is at peace with it and that is freeing for him and makes him valuable. He's going to lose in 6 minutes but he's going to try his hardest to stick it to the crowd and throw everything he has into every second of those six minutes. Despite and because of all that, I actually think he could maybe actually get over as something else, but not as what he is now, which is a job based 1994 WWF heel. If that makes any sense.

TRENT?: Trent has a chip on his shoulder. That's the best and the worst thing about him. There's this edge bubbling underneath the surface with him, whether that's passive aggressive social media post about how they're just one big win away from getting back on track or him giving grief to Wheeler Yuta when he was part of the Best Friends. There's a world where they could have mentored Daniel Garcia instead and the aggrieved nature of two of them could have been a force strong enough to tear wrestling apart. He's a strong cog in a machine that can do a lot of things with snap and impact, but I think we probably have some fundamental disagreements about pro wrestling maybe? He's a guy you want on your roster though, especially if that roster is the AEW roster.

Ws

Wardlow: Yeah, so at this stage, Wardlow is another guy you treat like Andre or 84-85 JYD. Have him do media, be an ambassador, support his hollywood aspirations, bring him into wrestle as the babyfaces' secret weapon in a gimmicky feud a few times a year. I just don't think AEW is set up to use him on a week to week basis. He should 100% be watching 80s Hogan tapes and aping his selling, figuring out how to be vulnerable and sympathetic and get the crowd energized for your comeback. Obviously he can be really valuable overall, but it does feel a little like the issue of how to deal with Goldberg in late 98 and obviously WCW got that one absolutely wrong.

Wheeler Yuta: Great turnaround for Yuta over the last couple of years. When a guy really puts in the work and has good mentors and opportunities, it can pay off. I didn't buy into his heel act on the indies. It felt too forced as if he was trying to avoid being something (whether that was a Ricky Steamboat style babyface or what, I'm not sure) but it felt artificial to me. I bought his act as a babyface earlier this year. I completely buy it as a "rat boy" (being a genre of pro wrestling character) heel now. There's so much in every match just in the way the other members of the BCC interact with him. It's sort of the opposite of Nese that I just talked about. With a guy like Nese, because of who and what he's paid to portray, there are very few character hooks in any match. He might get overconfident or make fun of someone's physique or do some pushups in the middle of the match or try to rob the fans of a moment, but with Yuta, there's just so much to tap into when it comes to trying to prove himself or the expectations put upon him or resentment towards others, and that can play out in his body language and choices in a match. And often does. 

Zs

Zach Clayton: Clayton has size and a built in gimmick with the Jersey Shore thing. Plus he really wants to succeed at this and is a fan. Those are all pluses. He really hasn't been given the opportunity to develop in longer singles or tag matches. He's not really working indies but is getting fairly steady work on ROH. I do think it was a missed opportunity when Jwoww was hyping up his match against HOOK to her millions of followers and then it was a fifteen second squash to set up Angelo Parker challenging. But you also want to make this guy something other than the opportunities of his relationship I guess. I can't tell you if there's going to be anything there with this guy or not yet.

Onto the women later.

[Curt McGirt]

I know I bang on this every time I see 'em but they gotta give Butcher and Blade at least ONE win on television sometime. I don't mind Tony Nese losing all the time for the reasons you wrote about. B&B though feel like they need to seem to have some ability as a threat every once in awhile for their jobs to have more meaning. It wouldn't hurt for them to even go on a brief win streak before being swatted down by a stronger team. Throw 'em a bone then slot 'em back where they're most effective, to look more effective. 

[Matt D]

Ok, Women, let's go.

Shida: Hey, she's the champ now. Thanks for messing up my system AEW. I like Shida! I hate that they changed her theme. But Shida is super versatile but also doesn't need to be for AEW so she sort of leaves some of the comedy chops and other things on the table. Since she has those, though, she has another layer underneath she can tap into. Very charismatic. Very credible. Very tough. I saw almost none of her pandemic run but I have full faith she'll put on some great matches moving forward. When in doubt, put on good matches.

Abadon: Beats me. They have two trios matches in 2023 and nothing else for AEW. They were good for a few minute squash but it was impossible to tell how they were developing. They were injured at some point too. Always seemed like someone who cared about getting better and about overall presentation. It's a shame they couldn't find more to do with the character. Maybe a tricky one to have in a bunch of standard matches all things considered? I got a kick out of that one Britt match ages ago, but again, ages ago.

Anna Jay A.S.: Now Anna is coming along! I liked her house show matches, even the one that people criticized for specific spots. I absolutely love it when people work their character into their ringwork and she does it better than anyone with the sports entertainment stuff. She's always playing it up. I liked her interaction with Toni Storm in the 4 way house show quite a bit. Her stuff with Julia was pretty effective too.

Athena: If Orange Cassidy is the male worker of the year, Athena's the female one. Can't look away. Absolutely electric/magnetic on screen as you never know when she'll take it over the top. The magic forearm is the best move of the year because she can finish someone with it or it can play into however she decides to start the match. Great squashes. Great competitive squashes. Great matches. Some great feuds. She's even great in the post-show scrums, presenting herself as a total star. I'm glad she got to main event the PPV since she's the anchor for ROH.

Britt Baker D.M.D.: Still the best ever at finding the camera in her matches. I think she's fine overall. She was a cool heel so she didn't have to change her act much to be a babyface. She's been very giving this year. I'd like to see her in more positions where she can sell sympathetically maybe? I haven't seen enough of that to make a judgment. She probably does function best in a tag setting? Along those lines, I'd like to see more opportunities for her to be a hot tag and clear house maybe?

Diamante: I like the little gun thing she does with her theme. I should be watching Athena vs Diamante right now instead of typing this stuff. I find her more than solid as a tweener heel. When I want a ROH female tag division, she's the first person I think of usually (Martinez, Hogan, etc). She's good at portraying a certain level of toughness and having that come through in her ring work.

Emi Sakura: Your highness and mine. She hasn't been featured enough lately. I saw a meme/stat that she was in 6 out of the top 10 female tv matches in AEW this year on cagematch or something and it's really easy to believe. Can do comedy and shtick. Can demolish an opponent. Can have a compelling strike exchange. Can work a brutal competitive match with stakes. I miss the Emi six-person tags from Elevation quite a bit. I hope she makes it to Wembley.

Harley Cameron: Haven't seen her enough in ring. At least she commits to the bit and she obviously has talent singing/rapping. She's another one I'd like to see work the bit into her wrestling though I don't know what that would look like. Maybe she could do a newscast mid match? Who knows.

Jade Cargill: Best when she was working towards her strengths. Portraying power. Worst when she was trying to do a destroyer or something to prove she wasn't just one dimensional. I know she's taking time now. I hope she's back soon if only to see what she could do if she wasn't champion and could be more vulnerable or even as a babyface. She was putting the work in but was learning some of the wrong lessons as well as the right ones.

Jamie Hayter: Hits hard. Did a great job as ace. They honestly didn't capitalize on her enough and then she was gone. Had a brutal confidence in the ring. She didn't change at all even when she became a De Facto face and that was completely the right call (as she's more of a bruiser than Britt for instance). Hopefully she gets well soon. Wembley felt like it was going to be her moment.

Julia Hart: Very fun squash worker. Effective second. Great at portraying her character's rage. Maybe should only sing along to the chorus of the song, maybe? Would like to see her in more competitive matches to see where she is now. Very much appreciate her finishing move.

Kiera Hogan: Underutilized. Her deathmatch with Athena is something everyone should see.  She held her own. Hasn't done quite enough for me to have more opinions than that right now.

Leila Grey: Well, she tries hard. She works her character. She has some unique offense. She talks a good game in the ring. She started during the pandemic and a little later in life than a lot of people do; still has room to grow.

Leyla Hirsch: I just finally figured out her theme song! Super unfortunate injury right after her heel turn. I enjoy watching her toss people around with her low center of gravity. They're bound to do Athena vs Hirsch eventually and I'm looking forward to that. That knee brace is scary and she's still walking rough. Once she gets into the ring it's more or less ok though.

Madison Rayne: Probably a very nice person. Injured. Not booked to her strengths as a babyface?

Marina Shafir: Has come a long way! She really has. She still has a ways to go. She does a lot of unique things no one else does. The stilted style is a feature and not a bug (except for when it's not, which is sometimes). Probably should have been protected a little more. Works with Mox! If they ever do a mixed division I want to see her and Roddy together. A good second for Nyla when she plays that role, especially when she's trying to convince the ref she hasn't done anything.

I'll try to get to the back half tomorrow.

[Zimbra]

Abadon posted pictures recently where they've lost a ton of weight so I'm curious to see how that effects their style.

Also they apparently wrestled a dark match in May that was Abadon/Skye/Willow vs Emi/Nyla/Shafir and I bet that ruled.

[Matt D]

Mercedes Martinez: The Martinez vs Deeb feud from last year was one of my favorite things of the year. Great reactions in the moment. Laser honed with that ability to swim when others are still figuring out how to walk. Obviously an experienced vet who can go in with anyone. Glad she's back from injury. Glad she's being used on Collision at least a little. Still want another Athena match that's not in Texas.

Nyla Rose: I started watching AEW almost exactly two years ago. One weird side effect of that is that, to me, Nyla's always been pretty good. I liked all of those Elevation tags. She's always the perfect person when you need  to heat up a babyface with a win. On one level you want her to be a monster for that reason, but on another, she's got such an over the top personality that you want to tap into that. WE got a glimpse of what she might be as a face against Jade but there's so much more to tap into there, even if she ends up being an attraction more than a title contender.

Paige Vanzant: Is... on the roster page. I got nothing.

Penelope Ford: I hope that when she's ready to wrestle, she wrestles to her heart's content. I don't know if she's as good as leaning into her character as Julia or the Bunny. There's always a little "Oh, is this happening now? Ok." look on her face when she's reacting to things. She's sort of ended up as Kip's batman villain "moll" and there's probably more for her to do than that.

Rebel: Not going to lie, I miss Rebel. Actually, back to Britt, it's a bit of a shame that they went away from the Waiting Room bits. I think that's one of the things that got her over and it didn't make sense to do after the pandemic era was over, but... maybe it did, right?

Red Velvet: Can be super smooth at times relative to her experience, the heel turn was good for her to lean into different aspects of her personality even if she's maybe a more natural face, the only person to ever hit the Play of the Day/Overdrive in a way that didn't look terrible. Her last one wasn't great unfortunately. I don't think they had a clear plan on what was going on there. I have no idea if she's injured again or what. I do think she can contribute to a division, but maybe it's the division "up north."

Riho: Very good at what she does! You can plug her in and she'll have a good match with anyone. I really like the Riho vs Nyla pairing for instance. I'd love to see her up against Athena or Statlander, actually. I'm pretty sure they need tag belts somewhere. There's just too much talent.

Ruby Soho: She's the glue that made the Outcasts work. I liked her as a face, but she came off as a journeyman, the person who loses tournaments and should lose them, a mechanic to make everyone else look better, someone without a clear spark of who and what she was as a character in the ring. It took a little bit, but she's been able to make it all come together as a heel and rise to be a little bit more. She's a solid strike and good at working her signature stuff into her matches in interesting ways. She had just been missing that edge that she should have had and now she has it.

Saraya: Hasn't wrestled a lot lately. She's a heatseeker that doesn't actively get enough heat in her matches, maybe? I'm not saying she should go full Moolah trainee, but the world passed her by and if she did a bit more of those hair whips and back rakes or whatever, it might get her over more. I don't think people are really looking forward to her stuff so much right now, though I would want to see a Mercedes Mone match given their history

Serena Deeb: Mysteriously missing. She was one of my favorites in 2022. Good enhancement matches. Good feuds. Good shots at titles that she didn't win. I like how she just tears people apart in a very Malenko-ish way. You wouldn't want every wrestler to be like that but having one or two is great. They used her in Elevation tags a bit more by the end and that was a nice bit of contrast when you had her teaming with someone like Emi or Nyla. Hopefully all's well and she's back soon.

Skye Blue: I am high on Skye. She's come a long way. She's probably developed better than anyone in the last couple of years. Plucky underdog. She's got the running knee in the ropes that always looks good. That kneeling kick/block/spinkick thing should NOT be an every match move. Someone has to get in her ear on that. Skyfall never really looks good (it looked great when Athena did it to her) but she's using the Code Blue more now. I think they're depushing her a bit which is ok. They can always heat her up more later and what matters more is she's getting the reps in now.

Tay Melo: They had successfully portrayed her as dangerous. She has great reactions and expressions but probably isn't quite as good on the "sports entertainment" level as Anna though she's maybe better overall. I get that she's leaning into her personality and is over the top but she was good as a warrior babyface too. I'm curious if she could lever the former into a face turn combined with her legitimate fighting skills and what that would look like. First, though, a baby.

Taya Valkyrie: She's been Lex Lugered pretty heavily in her first few months. My favorite role for her was always in helping Johnny to be a star, but you can't help but like her slide out of the ring German move. They got their money out of her with feuds (Jade, Kris, Toni, Britt) in a very short period of time to the point that she's probably overexposed already. Maybe it'd be good to have her tag (even with Harley) for a bit?

One row left!

The Bunny: You got to appreciate her dedication to her character and how far she's willing to go. Again, one of those solid $2 roster picks because she works as entrance that stands out and as a manager that can bump an as wrestler who can do singles or tags, standard matches and the occasional deathmatch. And hey, she draws ratings, maybe? Shame about all the injuries. Hopefully they're just about behind her.

Thunder Rosa: Beats me. Been a while. I thought her squashes ended up a little samey but she could really kill people on some of her stuff (which is what you want). A lot for her still left to do. I'm curious what a heel run would look like. I'd like to see her against Athena again. I'd like to see if she could channel any of the real life animosity/issues into something interesting?

Willow Nightengale: Could be a massive breakout star. Everything that WWE dropped the ball on with Bayley. She has a great sense of just how much to give, which is tough for a super strong babyface sometimes. She can also be vulnerable and get sympathy. I liked the first Athena match with the limb focus more than the second with the cosplay but both were very good and she's deserved and made the most of her big moments this year while still coming off as genuine and worth rooting for. Sky is the limit for her.

Yuka Sakazaki: I don't have as good a sense of her. I liked the Athena stuff, I think. The magical girl thing is fun. She's very charismatic but can still be tough and fiery when she needs to be. Again, if there was a tag division she could tag with Riho or Willow or Skye or even be a point of contrast with an Abadon or Diamante or someone.

And I'm done. I'll go through some of the ROH roster later on if I find the time.

[Wyld Samurai]

4 minutes ago, Matt D said:

 

Rebel: Not going to lie, I miss Rebel. Actually, back to Britt, it's a bit of a shame that they went away from the Waiting Room bits. I think that's one of the things that got her over and it didn't make sense to do after the pandemic era was over, but... maybe it did, right?

 

Rebel is/was my favorite part of Britt Baker.

[Zimbra]

Watching Rebel at a live show and seeing how constantly engaged she was with either the crowd, Britt, or her opponent was really interesting and something that never really came across on TV for me.

Wish she was still around, Britt really needs a stooge.

[Curt McGirt]

2 hours ago, Zimbra said:

Also they apparently wrestled a dark match in May that was Abadon/Skye/Willow vs Emi/Nyla/Shafir and I bet that ruled.

I got a buddy in Texas who said he saw them in a dark match at a taping so that might've been the one. They need to be back on my television like, yesterday. 

Rebel/Reba is the perfect second who can work more with facial expressions than some of the wrestlers can with their whole bodies. She needs to be around all the time. What happened to her, anyway? Same for the inexplicably missing Serena. I hope she's not just decided to teach yoga the rest of her life. 

[AxB]

Serena got married (to Marty Scurll) and shortly thereafter found a medical reason she couldn't wrestle for 9 months. Allegedly.

Edited August 4, 2023 by AxB

[The Natural]

19 minutes ago, AxB said:

Serena got married (to Marty Scurll) and shortly thereafter found a medical reason she couldn't wrestle for 9 months. Allegedly.

Fucking hell.

[The Natural]

On a cheerier note...Great topic, Matt D.

[Curt McGirt]

Scurll? Ugh. At least she can probably whip his ass if he acts up. 

[Matt D]

I'm finding the time.

There is a roster on the ROH website but it's not very useful. Let me look at some results and get some names.

Shibata: I only ever watched him for March Madnesses back in the day. I don't know if he's really wrestling differently now but he's very believable at absolutely crushing people on the mat or with strikes and I think everyone's a little careful with him and treats him like late stage Andre. But that means when you get someone really pushing up against him like Garcia or even, to a degree, Woods, it's pretty cool. He's more the legacy of 1986 NJPW than King's Road or whatever else and the Pure Division is a great place for him to rule as king.

Shane Taylor: Taylor is very good. Very good at shit talking between moves, very good at knowing when to give, very good at his stuff looking nasty. He should be utilized way more. Hopefully they'll give us Joe vs Taylor. There's a window to try to make money with this guy and it's now.

The Infantry: Dean comes off as a guy that would team with Jimmy Valiant against Paul Jones' army. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. The two of them together have a bunch of doubleteams that almost seem heel-coded and their matches tend to be too back and forth for my taste, but there's a spot for them on the roster.

Gates of Agony: A litle overexposed, especially considering how monstrous they are. Kaun is pretty good. I like Kaun in a tag setting. He's a guy that really worked for it and tries hard. Toa has such an upside. I think he can even be an amazing face someday. I don't think they actually need the belts.

Cole Karter: Yeah, I don't know. I haven't seen the LSG match from this week. Before Kyle Fletcher showed up I thought he could maybe be a lifelong rival for Hook but Fletcher is better in that role. A pretty punchable heel, this guy, I guess? Athletic, certainly. Raw. Let's see how he develops in a year's time.

Hijo del Vikingo: Putting him here as he wasn't on the AEW roster. Obviously spectacular. Unsurprisingly, I like him best against a strong base. When up against guys too similar it becomes a bit much. The 680 (720? Whatever) through a table should be kept for big moments.

Gringo Loco: A strong base! Maybe shows off just a little too much in that regard.

Gravity: I haven't seen quite enough yet, but I get a kick out of the slow walking. He should lean into it a little more. Honestly, I'd stick him in there with some of the PWG bozos and have them all play along and do a sequence with it. If you play up that they're just taunting each other and have an agreement to do it, there's no real harm. You just put it in context and let them have fun with it.

Dralistico: Ah, fake Mistico. Not his brother, certainly. Not his other brother either. But he's an ok second fiddle when it comes to hitting stuff and intensity. I always liked him when he went quasi rudo in CMLL because of the huge chip on his shoulder and he still has that and takes it out against guys fairly well. I'm not sure he's quite big enough to pull it off though, but they can always do a little dog, big dog thing with him and the rest of LFI.

Willie Mack: With Mack, I either like him in small doses, maybe a hot tag with someone like Ninja Mack (Or Cheeseburger) or against Cage in the stupidest match ever. I won't rank it or rate it but even I can have some fun with it probably. Probably.

Dalton Castle/The Boys: Putting them together because I don't have much to say about each individual Boy. They play their parts extremely well and take a great beating. Dalton has a ceiling far, far away from where he's being used now. He could be feuding with Luther and Serpentico or he could be challenging Luchasaurus for the TNT title. You could position him into any spot on the card and he'd make a good showing for himself and make it interesting and different and people wouldn't want to look away.

Workhorsemen: Henry is a little super-indy for me as a single though he's sort of in that Nese category of guys who have workrate and can lose, even if I have no idea what his character/personality is relatively. I like him more in the tag setting, and I like the head twist. Drake is my guy. Totally unique, even in a company that has a Dutch in it. Unabashed and willing to be himself. Great cutoff timing. Super credible offense. Can bump and stooge and feed as need be (he was a Wingman after all). Just let them win already! Honestly, I'd be happy if they were tag champs or they and Taylor were six man champs.

Titus/Williams: I don't have a great sense of Titus but I think Williams is chippy and can go on the mat and can portray a stingy toughness. You could add him to the BCC tomorrow and he'd fit in. Always glad to see him.

Jeeves Kay/Slim J: I'm so glad Slim gets a paycut. He's such a great babyface that it's a shame that he doesn't get to be in that role just a little more, but he comes in for a two minute stretch against just about anyone and it's great. I'd love to see him wrestle some of the lucha guys. Jeeves holds up his own. Again, I'm happy he has a slot but there's a ceiling there with the gimmick and who he is. Slim's a southern indy legend at this point and a ROH original basically. Again, Trustbusters could have the 6 man belts and I'd be totally fine with it.

The Righteous (Vincent/Dutch): I don't have a sense of these guys quite yet. Dutch would be better without the tongue thing. He's a brick wall and he doesn't need it. Vincent works his weird movements and talking into his matches fairly well. I think you can do some interesting things with them on the main roster even. Are we headed towards a merger with the Dark Order? That could really work.

Iron Savages: Beefcake Boulder is legitimately one of the most special talents on either roster and maybe the single most underutilized guy. He does so much so well and uses his size brilliantly. Bronson's more a guy that you'd want on any roster because he can move and put over people as needed. I saw a punch from him last week that was a little dubious but I don't hold it against him. Jameson is a guy. I have no idea about him yet. The call and repeat stuff could really get over but it's not there yet.

Renegades: They work hard. They have the twin magic gimmick. They have good exasperated attitude and a modem in their theme. They're coming along. Give 'em the reps.

Maria: Really valuable as a second. Great at making moments and not making it about her when it's not time for those moments. Just a key part of the act. I'm glad she's starting to scout others.

Trish Adora: Solid as a rock. High energy. Hits everything cleanly. Does what she does very well and doesn't feel the need to go beyond her bound while constantly expanding her bound with her new training. I'm not sure she can believably hit that submission every match but it is gnarly. And the Lariat Tubman is a lightning finish out of nowhere obviously.

I don't have a great sense of some of the other part timers (like Miranda Alize or Eli Isom). There are other part timers/tier 1 contract people not on roster pages(I think Billie Starkz should team with Skye Blue and worry that she's a bit like Nick Wayne and has developed some of the wrong habits) or guests that we see quite a bit (Like Minoru Suzuki) but in general, that's the rosters. @Goodear this was exhausting and I blame you for it. Hope people enjoyed it though.

[JLowe]

6 hours ago, Zimbra said:

Abadon posted pictures recently where they've lost a ton of weight so I'm curious to see how that effects their style.

Also they apparently wrestled a dark match in May that was Abadon/Skye/Willow vs Emi/Nyla/Shafir and I bet that ruled.

It was at the Austin show (pretty sure I read that Abadon trains under Dustin) and it was pretty short but fun. Good comedy spots with Abadon and Emi, and with Skye and Willow being a little afraid of her too.

[zendragon]

5 hours ago, Curt McGirt said:

I got a buddy in Texas who said he saw them in a dark match at a taping so that might've been the one. They need to be back on my television like, yesterday. 

Rebel/Reba is the perfect second who can work more with facial expressions than some of the wrestlers can with their whole bodies. She needs to be around all the time. What happened to her, anyway? Same for the inexplicably missing Serena. I hope she's not just decided to teach yoga the rest of her life. 

Rebel/Reba is the full time make up lady backstage

 

5 hours ago, Zimbra said:

Watching Rebel at a live show and seeing how constantly engaged she was with either the crowd, Britt, or her opponent was really interesting and something that never really came across on TV for me.

Wish she was still around, Britt really needs a stooge.

Worlds sexist Ralphus

 

PVZ is doing only fans and Red Velvet was injured

re:Madison Rayne ; I was listening to Dave Meltzer on CVV he said that in an era where everyone can work you need more than that you have to be a great promo of you really want to get over

and in a case of a broken clock being right twice a day I saw a clip of CVV interviewing Russo who said you need more than work rate centric matches you need characters and story lines to draw fans in.

 I don’t know if Rayne ever had a truly great match but The Beautiful People were an over and fun act. She was officially brought in as a coach so maybe that’s her value to the company 

[Shartnado]

On 8/4/2023 at 6:56 PM, Curt McGirt said:

I got a buddy in Texas who said he saw them in a dark match at a taping so that might've been the one. They need to be back on my television like, yesterday. 

Rebel/Reba is the perfect second who can work more with facial expressions than some of the wrestlers can with their whole bodies. She needs to be around all the time. What happened to her, anyway? Same for the inexplicably missing Serena. I hope she's not just decided to teach yoga the rest of her life. 

Rebel fearlessly running to intercept a face about to attack Britt/Hayter only to get knocked the F out instantly, was some of the most amazing comedy stuff in wrestling.