10 AEW Wrestlers WWE Should Fear The Most
9. The Women's Division
In general, the complexion of AEW's Women's division threatens to expose the cynicism at the heart of WWE's progressivist PR gambit. In WWE, the very real gains made by an Asuka or a Becky Lynch are always shadowed, ominously, by a certain management type. It's as if Vince has promised to change, for good this time, but he just can't bring himself to bin his black book.
Leva Bates got over big in NXT with her winning brand of babyface fire. Hikaru Shida is an excellent talent approaching her prime years, and presumably won't be asked to mistake the word "go" for "glow" on involuntarily racist national television. Yuka Sakazaki, the joshi Arya Stark, is just an absolute delight of a performer with a rare ability to invoke deep sympathy from crowds. The agile bruiser Nyla Rose is more than a mere marketing gimmick. Aja Kong is an interesting (and of course awesome) hire, too, in that the minds of AEW know exactly which legends can still go in a certain, reduced capacity. The more renowned likes of Kylie Rae and Britt Baker are also very talented - the latter, in particular, seems best poised to straddle the line between aesthetics and artistry beloved of the TV realm.
And, in Penelope Ford, AEW have secured the favoured, marketable WWE type, one who has shown over the last year a relentless willingness to break typecasting.