5 AEW Signings (With WWE Histories You Didn't Know About)

The third and final member of SoCal Uncensored is also the most long-lived, as Christopher Daniels made his bones in the world of in 1993. Signed to a developmental deal in the WWE (then the WWF) in 1998, he made a total of 17 appearances in the ring under his own name over the course of 3 years, exclusively on Shotgun Saturday Night, Jakked and Sunday Night Heat. At some point during his tenure he was released to work elsewhere, as he rubbed shoulders with Rhyno in ECW and competed in a handful of matches in WCW, including one on their flagship Monday Nitro show.

Perhaps his biggest contribution to Vince McMahon’s company was in a non-wrestling capacity, as he and Aaron Aguilera donned the masks of 80s tag team Los Conquistadores in the rivalry between Edge & Christian and the Hardy Boyz, pretending to be the pair in backstage segments after the Canadian duo had dressed up as them to win the tag team titles.

From 2002 onwards, Daniels’ CV boasts tenures in almost every other wrestling promotion of note, including TNA, ROH and PWG in America, NJPW in Japan, AAA and CMLL in Mexico and even WhatCulture’s own Defiant in the UK.

Now 49, Daniels in-ring career may gradually wind down as AEW takes off, but given that he is already serving the company in a secondary capacity (as head of talent relations), he will be a major backbone of the promotion for years should it succeed.