7 Forgotten WWE Appearances By AEW Stars
6. Daniel Garcia
The Thunderdome era of WWE is one of the most maligned and lowest points of recent times. Soulless and sterile, watching WWE's established names and legends attempt to create atmosphere and compelling television in this dead setting was one of the most uncomfortable periods in company history, so spare a thought for how difficult an in-ring trial would be in that environment.
When he's not bumpin' and grindin', Daniel Garcia is one of the best in-ring technicians in pro wrestling today, and adored by AEW fans. His performance under the name Dante Rios against Tyler Rust on NXT in the Thunderdome was doomed from the start. If the main roster were struggling, NXT was arguably at its creative and commercial low at this point, and Garcia tasted defeat in routine fashion.
This was actually the second time that Garcia had been looked at by WWE, after Danny wrestled as himself on an episode of 205 Live back in July 2018. Somehow even worse than the Thunderdome debacle, Drew Gulak disposed of Garcia in just 30 seconds in Pennsylvania.