10 Reasons Why AEW Is Still The KING Of Wrestling

7. The Talent Roster Is Stupidly Good Even When The Creative Is Stupid

Jon Moxley
AEW

The sheer size of the AEW talent roster is both a feature and a bug.

Watching Ricky Starks catch fire again with the incredibly simple mechanism of...featuring regularly and receiving focus on Collision has only underscored that Khan's super-sizing of the roster in 2022 was a strategic error. Still, while almost every act in AEW could be more prominent, the roster is one of if not the best ever assembled.

MJF is somehow just as good at playing face as he is playing heel, and he's one of a precious few in the 21st century capable of drawing earnest, elusive heat. Kenny Omega is a genius. Bryan Danielson is a genius. CM Punk is a genius. Matt and Nick Jackson display genius when laying out matches; for all the stupid talk of them not getting wrestling somehow, the point, and Pat Patterson said this, is to make fans go banana. The reaction even to a knockabout Bucks TV match is pure delirium.

Those words are not written lightly. The AEW talent roster isn't just amazing, with acts as talented as Jay White - and who's better than him at timing and positioning? - currently in midcard slots. Actual geniuses are on that roster.

Then there's Jamie Hayter, a monster of a wrestler who is as good at crafting a near-fall as anybody. Swerve Strickland, whose incredibly creative mind AEW has barely even picked yet. Jon Moxley! Eddie Kingston! Chris Jericho!

And Konosuke Takeshita and Kris Statlander and Darby Allin and Sting and Hangman Page and-

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!