Five WWE Wrestlers That are a Better Fit for AEW

Fans may not like how these individuals are utilized in WWE and many think they would fare better in All Elite Wrestling

With all of the incredibly talented people that work for both the WWE and AEW, sometimes it is fun to think about how some of the wrestlers would fit if they joined the other side. Below are my picks for five WWE wrestlers that might be a better fit in AEW.

Butch (Pete Dunne):

During Pete Dunne’s time in NXT and NXT UK, he was able to routinely show the ability to put on high-level matches against opponents of all shapes and sizes. The “Bruiserweight” works a style comparable to the Japanese “Strong Style” like so many of the AEW roster cut their teeth too. Over the years wrestling fans have seen him in action vs the likes of The Elite, Zack Sabre Jr, and Adam Cole so he would fit in quite nicely with the current All Elite roster.

Roderick Strong:

Speaking of Adam Cole, where has his former Undisputed Era teammate disappeared to? When NXT made its shift from the ‘black and gold brand’ to NXT 2.0, it seemed rather apparent that Roddy no longer fit in with the new program. Since his Diamond Mine departure, he has vanished.

Just a few months shy of his 40th birthday, time is of the essence if Strong is wanting to continue his in-ring career and a move to AEW would see him work alongside his wife (Marina Shafir) and give Tony Khan another Ring of Honor icon for the Thursday show.

Mustafa Ali:

It is crazy to think about how much an ill-timed injury derailed Mustafa Ali’s WWE career. It is somewhat common knowledge that Ali was pegged to get a crack at the main event scene back in February of 2019 before an injury popped up that saw creative move Ali out of the slot, and instead, the opportunity to shine would be given to Ali’s substitute, Kofi Kingston. From there we would see the rise of Kofi Mania while Ali has failed to receive another opportunity of that magnitude again. With the heavy focus on the high-flying performers in AEW, Ali would likely find a greater number of comparable opponents in AEW.

Viking Raiders (WAR Machine):

The WWE has not had a clue what to do with Erik and Ivar since their arrival in NXT back in 2018. Fans found them difficult to get behind from the start as their team name went from their ROH/NJPW moniker of “War Machine” to “War Raiders” upon their NXT debut.

Once moving up to the main roster their name would change again, this time to “The Viking Experience”. Which was awful, but don’t fret, there’s another change coming. Just one week later they would be informed that their NEW name would be “The Viking Raiders”, making this their third name in around one year under WWE contract. While their matches are always entertaining, hard-hitting affairs, WWE creative seems stuck on the fact that these two guys think they’re Vikings (and all the shenanigans that go along with that).

AEW was touted as a place where the tag team division would be taken seriously and given marquee spots on the card, as they understand that there are a lot of fans that truly love watching their favorite performers work together as a team.

With War Machine’s history of working in ROH as well as NJPW their style would obviously mesh well with AEW as so much of their company’s roots come from those two companies.

Candice LeRae:

You can count me as one of the fans that were hoping both Candice and Johnny Wrestling would have ended up in AEW by now, but alas that simply isn’t the case. While LeRae might not currently be viewed as one of the elite (no pun intended) performers in the women’s division, she is very talented as both a worker as well as a character.

She has shown the ability to pull off both face and heel roles with a unique believability factor that just makes your eyes find her any time she’s on tv. It feels as though the WWE has never really had a plan for her, other than when she was part of “The Way”, or just playing the role of “Johnny’s wife”.

Prior to her time in NXT Candice worked in both PWG and DDT Pro-Wrestling where she was a multi-time champion who actually competed against the likes of Adam Cole, Kevin Steen (Owens), and her own husband. LeRae would add a veteran presence to the female locker room who you could count on to give a PPV-worthy angle any time you were in a pinch.