Transitioning from one work environment to another is not easy. After breaking down the discord about WWE wrestlers going to AEW, it’s time to consider the reverse situation.
Especially given WWE is going through a boom period, does this automatically mean wrestlers who switch sides are going to succeed?
Center of the Universe
With former AEW wrestlers like Cody Rhodes and CM Punk being two of the hottest wrestlers in WWE, plus the perceived success of others on the main and NXT roster, it looks like the grass is greener. For some, this demonstrates a historical truth and repetition.
The narrative is that WWE is the ultimate destination for pro wrestling. It’s not new. It’s a product of marketing, historical expansion, increasing profitability, plus monopolization. WWE put itself at the center of not just its galaxy.
Popular perception sees WWE at the center of wrestling’s entire universe.
It’s the place many wrestlers dream of going to. AEW’s continued existence has helped reshape the industry. Although for some history is just repeating. Old history is revised and airbrushed.
Especially as AEW right now is far from its creative peak. While AEW is not perfect (and that’s fine), it conveniently fits the oversimplified WCW in decline narrative especially as more wrestlers appear or are rumored to be jumping from AEW.
Some fans even predict who will be AEW’s version of The Radicalz. Yet while two of that group’s members became world champions, the other two arguably were reduced from wrestlers to characters. Dean Malenko went from Iceman to “Double Ho Seven”.
A joke turned gimmick where Malenko became a comic/awkward James Bond parody. Perry Saturn portrayed a wrestler with CTE for laughs and dated a mop. Former cornerstones of WCW’s mid-card turned into comedy characters.
It’s a fate some wrestlers from WCW, the Indies, and even before from the territory days experienced. They came, fought, and were made to look silly.
The logic is that if wrestlers like Ricky Starks, The Lucha Brothers, or Wardlow go to WWE they would immediately become bigger stars is true in terms of exposure, but creatively, there are risks.
The WWE Mould
The Paul Levesque Era is still the company built by Vince McMahon (as I’ve dissected here). Some things have changed for the better, including fan wish fulfillment. Yet the machinery is still the same sports entertainment-orientated gears.
Wrestlers like planets must rotate around the WWE’s sun to be successful. While true of all wrestling promotions, the mentality of adapt or perish is engrained in both wrestlers and the fanbase. It’s a somewhat army-like mindset of breaking them down to fit our mold.
Former artistic gymnast and current NXT North American Women’s champion, Kelani Jordan told SEScoops on the arrival of Giulia, one of the best women’s wrestlers in the world, “I think she’s only gonna keep getting better, learning the WWE way.”
Wrestlers now might be able to keep their own names and identities, but they still follow the WWE playbook. This includes Cody Rhodes and CM Punk who have adjusted their in-ring styles and verbiage to meet the company and fans’ expectations.
Sidenote– I’m discounting Rhodes and Punk from this discussion because of their headlining status prior to their WWE returns.
Of the four AEW to WWE wrestlers who went straight to the main roster, three had previously competed in WWE. Jade Cargill is the exception in more than one way. The rest started or remain in NXT.
Developmental Dominance
One objective marker of success in wrestling is championship reigns. It’s hard to ignore that former AEW wrestlers (outside of those with prior WWE experience) have done well.
In five years, former AEW wrestlers have had six title reigns and a cup. Yet all but two of those reigns are with developmental championships.
While NXT is currently beating Dynamite in the ratings, NXT is still in the developmental. It’s not the main roster. That’s not to undermine these reigns but to give context. NXT is the third tier of WWE’s hierarchy. How significant have these reigns been?
Ethan Page was recently NXT champion. His reign lasted 86 days. Immediately pushed to the top title, it’s a great some of confidence in All Ego.
Page has had a more defined and prominent role at the top of the card in NXT compared to his time in AEW and ROH. Although Page’s reign seemed designed to aid NXT’s top babyface, Trick Williams.
Dragon Lee was the North American Champion for 31 days. Lee is consistently competing on Raw currently. However, beyond storylines as a member of The LWO, what character development or storylines has Lee had as a solo act outside of NXT?
Nathan Frazer is on his second NXT Tag Team Championship reign. Frazer spent four years in NXT, including being part of NXT UK. A strong wrestler in one of NXT’s best tag teams with Axiom.
But there’s been weekly teases of breaking the tandem up. Creatively, why? Given their success? They could subvert the old WWE’s break-up trope, but it highlights an issue of WWE’s creative more widely.
Jade Cargill – Exception
Cargill is the anomaly, with two WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship reigns. Since her debut in WWE, Cargill has been pushed as a star and a regular feature of the women’s division with Bianca Belair.
However, the continual discord circulating Cargill, although steeped in tribalism, reveals some truth.
Although Cargill’s greenness has been protected in tag team matches, her in-ring weaknesses have been exposed repeatedly, including on PLEs. WWE faces the same paradoxical booking issue with Jade that AEW faced which I discussed prior to WrestleMania. WWE too has failed to effectively address the problem.
In that article, I discussed Cargill’s in-ring deficiencies could be glossed over with more emphasis on character development and storylines, the things WWE repeatedly put front and center.
This aided Dominik Mysterio. Or dedicated road agenting to support her development. The kind Ronda Rousey felt she needed. That Rousey said Logan Paul repeatedly received.
It highlights an issue of thought and attention that goes beyond Cargill. Cargill is not floundering, but as a wrestler and character, she’s in a similar place to where she was in AEW. The difference is that Cargill has more eyes on her.
Gear Spinning Creative
The top programs have a lot of time and attention given to them for character development, long-term storytelling, and carefully thought-out milestones. See The Bloodline Saga or Morgan/Rhea/Mysterio Saga.
Beyond the latter, there are few women’s storylines getting the same attention to detail or even time. There are exceptions but look at the women’s tag championships.
Cargill’s lack of character development is not isolated. Her co-champion, Belair as a character has stagnated. Her position on the card is stationary. Although Belair vs. Cargill seems destined for WrestleMania, is enough being done to set up a gripping women’s storyline?
A lack of character development has also impacted Naomi, after her return from TNA.
At least this trio has style and flash to compensate for substance. Cargill’s strengths and championship give her a prominent role. Other women are spinning their wheels. Blair Davenport has not had a significant role on Smackdown since her call-up.
Andrade seemed to agree with the criticism of WWE booking Mexican talent together.
Yet the men’s Speed champion, at least compared to the women’s Speed champion, Candice LeRae, at least has a long-term storyline against a long-term feud with former NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes.
Although arguably if this repeated series of matches happened on AEW, it’s likely many would say there is no storyline.
The reality of which is, that there are creative issues on both sides of the divide, but WWE’s current hot streak glosses over these issues. Arguably, with the examples listed above, some former AEW talent are doing just as good or better than NXT or pre-existing WWE talent.
It Doesn’t Matter How Green We Think It Is
AEW has changed the wrestling industry, including WWE in subtle ways. In many cases, Rhodes, Punk, Cargill, Page, and Shawn Spears retain the same gimmicks and characters they had in AEW.
Others, like Lexis King, have taken the opportunity to reinvent themselves. It’s notable that compared to their WCW predecessors, AEW wrestlers have not faced political booking, suspicion, or burial. Generally, they’ve slotted into the WWE landscape seamlessly.
WWE will always have the advantage of being for many fans and wrestlers the centre of the wrestling universe. Underneath the tribal discord around Stephanie Vaquer joining WWE, Vaquer picked WWE because it was her dream.
WWE is not perfect. Remove record profits, creative across the card remains mixed. However, there is a difference between our views of creative as fans compared to the wrestlers themselves who it affects.
Ultimately, it’s the wrestlers as individuals to decide whether the dream of WWE meets their expectations. Our view as fans doesn’t matter.
See as evidence Nathan Frazer’s response from X to a fan who jokingly questioned what happened to the former Ben Carter after competing on Dynamite.
• Went onto fulfil his lifelong dream of signing with WWE
• Spent valuable time with his family during a worldwide pandemic
• Won the Heritage Cup
• Became a 2x NXT Tag Team Champion and formed one of the best teams in recent memory
He’s doing just fine 🤝🏻 https://t.co/KZ7iQ1QZ9D
— Nathan Frazer (@WWEFrazer) September 23, 2024
If WWE doesn’t work out and if the grass isn’t greener, then just like the Monday Night Wars before, wrestlers could zig-zag between the two promotions. It happened before. It will likely happen again.
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