5 WWE Wrestlers Who Should Jump To AEW (And 5 Who Shouldn't)

3. SHOULDN'T - Roman Reigns

Ali Cesaro
WWE.com

Chris Jericho has on several occasions revealed that, if he could poach any star from WWE, it would be Roman Reigns.

And, after eight years of cracking work in a woefully miscast role, everybody can see why. Reigns more often than not transcends the repetitive format of WWE television with his excellent, sinister performances. His megastar presence elevates the wordy, low-energy show-opening segment typical of SmackDown in 2021. His economical performance style is so perfect that he has shrugged off those debilitating comparisons to John Cena and channelled his energy into something more favourable: without ever striving desperately for it, he is the spiritual 21st century successor to Jake Roberts.

For Reigns, it is almost more impressive legacy-wise to excel in a fundamentally broken WWE system. He can always look back on his career and say that he did something very few others could: he got over in a company when it was deemed impossible to do so.

WWE is doubtlessly paying the man a fortune to do precisely that. The competitive salary and creative freedom that acts as AEW's brochure?

Reigns doesn't have to jump to get it.

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!