Five wrestlers currently in AEW that fit better with the WWE
Last week I gave you five WWE wrestlers that I feel would fit better in AEW. Today I bring you my thoughts on five AEW wrestlers that I feel would fit better in the WWE.
Ethan Page: I want to be clear; it is still very early in Ethan’s AEW career, and I fully believe he will be a multi-time champion before his time with the company comes to an end. That said, Page is perfect for the WWE’s mid-card as he stands 6’ 2”, has an abundance of in-ring talent and can certainly hold his own on the mic.
During his time in Impact Wrestling Ethan was part of an incredible tag team with “The Walking Weapon” Josh Alexander. As much as the WWE seems to enjoy throwing two random wrestlers together to form a team, he could easily slide into a situation like that as well if called upon.
Page is a black belt in both karate and taekwondo, so he brings that ‘believability’ factor that the WWE enjoys.
Again, I still firmly believe that Page will hold gold before leaving AEW, but I can’t help but feel he’s a better fit for their competition.
Lance Archer: This list would’ve been simple and quick if I just listed all the big monsters that AEW has. Due to the fact that most of AEW’s mega-stars are not giants, the guys who are the size of Archer, Will Hobbs, and Brian Cage have a difficult time reaching main event status. It would be hard for a casual fan to believe that someone the size of Darby Allin or Adam Cole could defeat those monsters on a regular basis.
This leaves big guys like Archer lost in the shuffle, only seen when the company needs to put someone over.
Lance is an extremely intimidating figure that plays a great ‘angry/hate the world’ heel, but if you’ve ever seen him interact with someone like Danhausen you get a chance to see that he has a great sense of humor and comedic timing. Therefore, if you let him just be himself, he could also get over as a crowd favorite.
For your homework tonight I ask that you check out Archer’s time in Japan teaming with Harry Smith as the “Killer Elite Squad”. You will quickly see just how great he is playing the out-of-control madman and a move to the “land of giants”, which the WWE has long been known as, could be just the change Archer has needed.
RUSH: Like Page, RUSH is still getting his feet wet in AEW, but it feels like there is a disconnect with the live crowds. Adding Preston Vance and RUSH’s younger brother Dralistico to the La Faccion Ingobernable has been entertaining, though they desperately need Andrade El Idolo back in the company and with the faction.
At just 35 years of age, he still has plenty of time to improve his craft, move up the ladder in AEW and pick up numerous championships along the way. RUSH is already viewed by many as one of the best wrestlers in the world and was ranked 18th by Pro Wrestling Illustrated in their 2020 Top 500 list.
No matter where he has gone, he’s shown that he can be put on top of the card and succeed, as he has picked up numerous CMLL championships along with being a two-time Ring of Honor heavyweight champion.
WWE has long been looking for someone to fill the “Eddie Guerrero void” within the company and, with Rey Mysterio creeping up on the end of his career, RUSH could instantly step in (along with Dominic Mysterio and Santos Escobar) as the top Luchadors in the company. You could even go a step further by bringing NXT’s Dragon Lee, who is another of RUSH’s brothers, up to the main roster and have the duo team with Dom and Escobar in the WWE’s version of LWO.
Serena Deeb: I know, she’s already been there but you’ll notice by the way this list ends, that doesn’t factor into my choices. For a while, Serena seemed like she was a shoo-in to become AEW Women’s Champion and there were numerous people, me included, that wanted her to join The Pinnacle. Deeb is quite the technician in the ring who rarely ever has a bad match and is sufficient enough on the mic that she can be plugged into the championship scene of any company and make for a believable threat to the champ.
The AEW women’s division is certainly getting better but is obviously still well behind the WWE’s. Moving someone with Deeb’s experience to the WWE would benefit every female wrestler on their roster as she is safe in the ring and, like I’ve mentioned about a few wrestlers, works a style that makes her come across as a believable threat no matter who she’s up against.
While I do believe that she could help her current employer out in a multitude of ways, I stand firm in my belief that her in-ring abilities would be better suited for the WWE.
Keith Lee: I know, I know but hear me out. As a MASSIVE Keith Lee fan, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t extremely disappointed in his AEW run thus far. Yes, he did win the tag belts with Swerve Strickland, but now he’s being thrown together with Dustin Rhodes?
Huh?
Now let’s think back to his NXT days when he became the first person to hold the NXT and North American Championships, along with his immediate impact upon arrival on the main roster in the WWE. He would then go on to have a memorable moment with “The Beast” Brock Lesnar during the 2020 Royal Rumble and was made to look incredibly strong during the 2019 men’s RAW v Smackdown v NXT Survivor Series match.
He was clearly being groomed as a future mega-star in the company, but then he mysteriously vanished from television for a while, and the fans were left wondering what was happening. It has come out since that he was very ill during his absence but all of his momentum by that point was long gone.
It seemed as though AEW might do something with himself and Adam Cole vs. the Jericho Appreciation Society, but even so, where does this leave him as a singles wrestler?
If HHH is indeed in charge of booking for the WWE it would be hard to argue against Lee going back if the opportunity presented itself. At this point in time, I would absolutely trust that HHH would have more (and likely better) ideas for the big man than Khan appears to have.