10 Wrestlers With The AEW Stink
Admit defeat on those that are no longer Elite...
Tony Khan's purchase of Ring Of Honor has yet again caused more shifting of wrestling's tectonic plates.
It'd be the preserve of the ultra-optimistic ROH hardcores to assume that the company will function and run as it once did, not least considering Khan's already-full plate. That's not to say he couldn't or wouldn't delegate duties to somebody experienced enough to book it as a separate brand, but at this point in AEW's celebrated tenure as a promotion, there'll be panic if he doesn't.
Andre The Giant foreshadowed his legendary WrestleMania programme with Hulk Hogan by noting that "three years is a long time", but who knew his garbled menace could prove so prescient decades later? AEW's existed long enough for the highs to be contextualised, the lows to be critically analysed and the future to be forecasted with enough evidence informed by the recent past.
With that, regrettably, comes the the reality of some wrestlers feeling a little more past their sell-by date, rather than being as Elite as the company initials might once have suggested. Not everybody can thrive in a promotion, but the more time Khan spends on ROH, the more chance there is of the likes of these feeling even more past their best...
10. Orange Cassidy
With AEW operating relatively successfully as a roster rotation promotion, it's a shame the statistical spreadsheets haven't found a way to make Orange Cassidy just as popular as a part-time performer.
An awesome and over gimmick even now that its been over-exposed, the persona works as well as it does because it proves All Elite Wrestling to be the place for pro wrestling artistic impression. But, criminally, the company have allowed the joy to feel a little diluted. Or at very least wear thin. Danhausen's debut during Cassidy's match with Adam Cole forced the former to crack a wry smile, as if he knew he was about to be ousted as AEW's most popular novelty megastar.
Though the circumstances are never ideal, a compromise may have been reached as result of Cassidy's shoulder injury suffered at Revolution. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and the recovery time should provide a much-needed break - his first since the group launched with him as a key signing in 2019.
And speaking of launch signings that need a break, and Orange Cassidy-related content...