10 Wrestlers AEW Failed In 2022

10. Lance Archer

Upon debuting with AEW, it initially looked as if Lance Archer would be utilised as a top tier talent who would often find himself in the main event picture.

While losing to Cody Rhodes in the tournament final to crown the inaugural TNT Champion took a whole bunch of steam away from the Murderhawk Monster, his presentation and presence in the time since has only served to make Archer an afterthought of All Elite Wrestling.

It's a strange one with Lance, for he will be absent from AEW TV for months at a time, then resurface to immediately have an AEW World Title match - as has been the case against both Jon Moxley and 'Hangman' Adam Page - before then disappearing again for a spell.

AEW want you to think that the 6'6" star is a major player and a genuine threat to the company's top talents, yet they rarely do anything to showcase why Archer is a major player and genuine threat. For every IWGP US Title win over Moxley, there's a three-month spell of solely working AEW Dark.

2022 may have seen the Suzuki-gun man work NJPW's G1 Climax and the Tag League tourneys, but that time in New Japan is no excuse for Lance Archer only having six televised AEW matches this year - with any match of significance resulting in a loss for the big man.

Authored by Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.

Posted On: 14th Dec 2022

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