Ups & Downs For Every AEW Roster Member

20. Nyla Rose

Nyla Rose
AEW

Up

Establishing herself as an explosive powerhouse with incredible highs, delivering awesome, eyeball-popping matches with Riho and Hikaru Shida. In a way, Nyla is AEW's proof of concept. The flaws in her work are regularly eclipsed by her bombast.

Down

Though it suffered from following the lauded Young Bucks vs. Omega and Page match, Revolution's Women's Title bout with Kris Statlander fell flat from a workrate perspective as well.

19. Jungle Boy

Jungle Boy
AEW

Up

His Double Or Nothing 2020 match with MJF felt like an old-school territorial good vs. evil battle upgraded for modern tastes, with Jungle Boy's bumping, selling, and thunderous, hyper-athletic comebacks a huge part of its success.

Down

Jungle Boy still feels like Jurassic Express' second most important character, despite possessing greater upside than Luchasaurus and Marko Stunt. His time will surely come, though.

18. Orange Cassidy

Orange Cassidy
AEW

Up

Cassidy's match with PAC at Revolution was a genuinely revelatory affair, proving 'Freshly Squeezed' could work his shtick without violating the accepted psychology of professional wrestling on a big pay-per-view stage, though establishing himself as one of AEW's greatest quarter-hour needle-movers is Orange's greatest success thus far.

Down

The Chris Jericho feud ran long and has left Cassidy's act feeling relatively normal through overexposure. It's time for him to leave the spotlight for a while.

17. Hikaru Shida

Hikaru Shida
AEW/Lee South

Up

The best pure worker in the AEW women's division prior to Serena Deeb's arrival, Shida is a real vanguard for the scene, continually helping lesser wrestlers to perform above themselves. 'The Full Metal Champion's' best match was Double Or Nothing 2020's brawl with Nyla Rose.

Down

As strong as the first Rose match was, the second, at Full Gear 2020, unravelled by the end.

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Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.