10 Times AEW Took Advantage Of WWE Ignoring The Fans

8. Bobby Fish

Roman Reigns, CM Punk
AEW

Bobby Fish will never ever win the AEW Championship, but his signing has been unexpectedly revelatory in highlighting how little that really matters.

Fish was bordering on becoming an also-ran in his own group during The Undisputed Era's hottest period on NXT. A series of unfortunately times injuries halted his momentum more than once, and Roderick Strong proved such a good replacement alongside Kyle O'Reilly that audiences increasingly stopped caring if the temporary fix was made permanent.

And yet, his run of matches in All Elite Wrestling thus far have shown off a benefit that was there all along.

A mean-spirited but super-talented submission-and-strikes specialist, Fish can be elevated over the course of one squash to enough of a height that a CM Punk or Bryan Danielson can view him as a scalp. Such a performer is vital to the success, credibility and integrity of the company's ranking system. Contrast this to potentially being left to rot on either version of 2021's NXT, and Fish looks like one of the shrewder moves Tony Khan could have made.

 
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