10 Secret WWE Pasts Of AEW Wrestlers

All Elite World Wrestling Entertainment.

MJF Samoa Joe
WWE.com

Everybody's got to start somewhere.

That very notion is one of the best things All Elite Wrestling has going for it, offering talents different starts that should finish in making everybody a small fortune and the wrestling business a little bit better than it was before. Whether it's a fresh start (Shawn Spears), a new start (Jon Moxley) or just a start altogether (Teal Piper), AEW's diverse and dynamic hiring policy has already brought together a varied crop of talents that should ensure the company getting off to the best possible start when it launches its fascinating weekly TV show in October.

That most of the performers are brand spanking new to the mainstream wrestling audience need only be a blessing rather than a curse - the less old-career stink to wipe off the better, not least with the company looking to remain a babyface organisation as long as possible. A place of making stars rather than stifling them and destroying them will be the narrative, with only a select few there to share memories of the alternative options working for the market leader...

10. The Young Bucks

MJF Samoa Joe
wwe/ROH

This is so delicious because it's Shawn Michaels and Triple H.

In 1997, D-Generation X tore up traditional wrestling rules on a weekly basis, adding yet more chaos to an increasingly wild Monday Night Raw broadcast soon to supplant WCW Nitro as the industry's Number One rated weekly show. They were the New World Order halved in number but doubled in danger, making that once-transcendent stable look ancient in comparison. Much like how The Young Bucks would look now if suddenly stood next to the seniors club that filled the ring to bury The OC on Raw Reunion.

On a recent edition of Being The Elite, Matt and Nick Jackson spoke fondly of their remarkable journey through pro wrestling - the journey that has helped forge All Elite Wrestling and all that company may yet offer to the industry at large.

They were close to giving it up thanks to a woeful TNA run and the indifference they'd been shown by WWE - Matt and Nick were knockoff Hunter and Shawns to Vince McMahon et al, and that's all they'd ever be until they were offered deals in 2018. Deals they were always going to turn down with something much bigger up ahead.

In this post: 
AEW MJF
 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett