10 Wrestlers Who Gambled On A New Character

8. Miro: The Redeemer

CM Punk
AEW

The idea was always to have Miro turn on Kip Sabian. Re-watch their first backstage vignettes together. Miro was playing a beast just waiting to explode all along.

Whether this was really all that necessary is up for for discussion. The former Rusev didn't have to play a gamer character upset over the most frivolous of things in an interminable programme with the Best Friends, but then, he couldn't walk in as a hoss destroyer with the same legitimacy he eventually, thrillingly developed. To rediscover an aura that fans could take seriously again, following the last, disastrous phase of his WWE run, he had to do it within the parameters of an AEW storyline.

And he did; after tiring of Sabian, he brutalised him in a tremendous backstage heat angle before becoming 'The Redeemer': a shredded hoss behemoth guided to victory by his God.

This blinkered dauntless killer character was terrifying and so well-worked: he needed just 30 seconds of pre-tape to steal Dynamite with his prestige drama-level promos, and showed just enough vulnerability to create searing drama at the peak of his excellent, totally distinct matches.

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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!