Every AEW Stable Ranked From Worst To Best

4. The Inner Circle

The Pinnacle
AEW

The original AEW heel stable have since turned babyface in an overdue development recognised as such in storylines.

The "Ha-ha comedy bullsh*t" of the winter months served a purpose beyond what was uneven entertainment value that, at its best, was still piss funny: all along, it was a vehicle to position the Pinnacle as their replacement.

The stable was tremendous as a personality-drenched proper heel stable pre-pandemic before they - and nowhere near enough credit is given for this, incidentally - lightened the dire mood by showing all ten ass cheeks across Stadium Stampede and the fun mini-programme opposite the Best Friends. They doused their own heat to make all of this significantly less depressing.

As babyfaces - nursery rhymes aside - they rule once more as a serious concern. Santana is a future Ace headliner, Jake Hager was always deadpan funny and it works better now, and the very happy byproduct of Chris Jericho's midlife crisis is that he really does come across as a crazy person ready to go apesh*t in a double cage.

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!