5 Wrestlers Who Will Get Over In AEW (And 5 Who Won't)

1. The Librarians WON'T...

Orange Cassidy
Scott Lesh

The Librarians feel like Randy Pearson, or Chachi - characters hastily added to a show fading in popularity because the real stars decided to pursue other interests.

As Kenny Omega and Cody distanced themselves from BTE, too busy with AEW, Peter Avalon and Leva Bates played the roles of competing Librarians. It was a gimmick that sought to toy with the idea that the formation of AEW was going to kill the charm of everything with corporate intervention. It never clicked there, and it has totally bombed on the Buy In shows. It's a dud gimmick that has invited the obvious "silence" jokes, and the fans have rejected the panto premise. They aren't ironically booing louder, just to get shushed. They aren't playing along.

The bit did yield an inspired spot during the Women's Casino Battle Royale at All Out, in which Peter Avalon laid out a trail of books for Leva Bates to step on to avoid elimination - but that's the only thing that's felt even remotely amusing.

Should AEW thrive in the years to come, this will be remembered as Early Installation Weirdness: Hey, remember the Librarians lol?

Contributor
Contributor

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!