Every AEW Wrestler Ranked From Worst To Best - After One Year
15. Dustin Rhodes
AEW has found the perfect role for 51-year-old Dustin Rhodes.
'The Natural' is the sentimental babyface favourite with clear, obvious flaws, marching to his doomed against opponents like Lance Archer, whom he had no chance of beating. That he draws such immense support in the face of insurmountable odds speaks to his endearing power as a pro-wrestler. Impossibly smooth and a long-time master of the sport's nuances and intricacies, he is in the midst of an Indian Summer that goes against all conventional wisdom - but works.
Rhodes remains an excellent worker despite his advancing years. Wrestling so well in AEW's best match to date (vs. Cody) doesn't exactly harm him either...
14. Hikaru Shida
Character work is all that hinders Hikaru Shida here, as the Japanese star's personality has been given next to no development through promos, vignettes, and other pieces since she arrived on American shores. Fingers cross this changes now that she has the Women's Championship.
The rest of Shida's presentation has been exemplary. She has been the best pure wrestler in the division for a while now and one of the few who look capable of elevating lesser performers, as proven whenever she steps in the ring with anyone beneath her on the totem pole. More than a mere "good hand," she is both a standard-bearer and a vanguard, and somebody AEW is lucky to have on a full-time basis, particularly as her division remains so disjointed.
Shida vs. Nyla Rose was AEW's best women's bout to date. If the division is to rise, it should be around its strongest worker.
13. Rey Fenix
A state-of-the-art high-flier with unbridled creativity, Rey Fenix is more than a mere athletic marvel capable of popping a crowd with stunt shows. This Lucha Brother is an innovator. Even in this atomised, overexposed era of pro-wrestling, where everything has done before, Fenix remains capable of pulling off something brand new, regardless of whether he's working one-on-one or alongside Pentagon Jr.
Jackson's acclaimed 20 November 2019 match with Nick Jackson is amongst the best in Dynamite's short history. Everything he does is so fluid and seamless that he makes the impossible look easy and he's still only 29 years old, meaning his best days may be ahead of him.