- 7 hours ago
Try as hard as Tony Khan and AEW might, these wrestlers were not getting over.
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00:00For every best in the world, salt of the earth, there has unfortunately been an underwhelming
00:04MMA crossover star, forgettable faction of jobbers and a talented singles worker with
00:10an unexpected ceiling. And despite definitely claiming more hits than misses since setting
00:15sale in 2019, AEW couldn't stop this bunch from slipping through the popularity cracks.
00:21I'm Gareth from WhatCultureWrestling and here are 10 wrestlers AEW tried and failed to get over.
00:2710. Andrade El Idolo Bursting onto the scene with an almighty whimper
00:31back in June 2021, a star fresh from a wholly demoralizing stint within the sports entertainment
00:37sphere was unveiled as the most recent All Elite signing by serial crowd popper Vicky Guerrero.
00:44While there might have actually been a world where this partnership could have bore fruit
00:47given the right care and attention, neither of those luxuries were afforded to the Mexican
00:51duo from the off, leading to an equally ill-received alliance with her nephew Chavo before long
00:57A month later, Chavo was also out, and yet another manager was soon called in by the name
01:01of Jose the assistant. But this constant chopping and changing was at least distracting attention
01:06away from a bit of a lackluster early run of All Elite in-ring performances. Outside of admittedly
01:11stellar efforts with Pac, thrown together multi-men bouts and a particularly weak debut against
01:16Matt Seidel butchered just about all the buzz that once surrounded Andrade. Even after burning
01:22Cody Rhodes and acting as the head of the now Andrade family office, the formidable talent
01:26seems more occupied with buying half the roster than competing against it, further establishing
01:31him as an afterthought in this rather bloated landscape.
01:349. The Hardy Family Office
01:36It's telling Matt Hardy took one look at the heelish set of goobas he'd assembled for well
01:40over a year and quickly dusted off his 90s tag getup the moment his brother showed up. Fans
01:46could not help but digest the ever-beatable buffoons as little more than cannon fodder.
01:50So why bother investing your energy in a team as convoluted as it is useless in the ring when
01:55you can simply be cheering on the Hardy Boys jumping through tables instead? Sensing that
01:59to be the most profitable option, AEW too opted for the latter. And I've since burdened the
02:04aforementioned Andrade with the task of making the average All Elite fan embrace the hard-working
02:08likes of The Butcher, The Blade, and The Bunny and Private Party. Expect Tony Khan to continue
02:13putting the crew front and center whenever a more intriguing trio needs a gentle push.
02:178. Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford
02:20Not every name handed a contract by Tony Khan on day one has hit the ground a-running. Despite
02:25winning the first ever singles AEW bout at double or nothing against Sammy Guevara,
02:29and eventually being thrown into a heelish partnership with real-life partner Penelope
02:33Ford, any and all attempts to catapult the slimy Brit up the card have pretty much fallen flat up to
02:38this point. Sure, an alliance with Miro was solid at best, but a painful waste of God's
02:43favorite champion at its video game-obsessed worst. And it came as little real surprise to
02:47see TK distance the hulking badass from the newlyweds as quickly as possible post-backstage
02:53assault by Miro on Sabian. With Sabian thankfully being given time to recuperate from a shoulder
02:57injury in the wake of said attack, and Ford still struggling to make her presence known in an
03:01increasingly stacked women's division, it appears the pair's game could be on the verge of resetting
03:06once again before 2022 reaches its conclusion.
03:097. The Varsity Blondes The Land of All Elite can quite realistically
03:13confess to having the deepest tag-team wrestling roster in North America, and perhaps even the
03:18world in this very moment, that a few of the greener and lesser-depth units have had their
03:23numerous weaknesses somewhat exposed in recent times. While there's no doubt a ton of potential
03:28to be found within the Varsity Blondes' Griff Garrison and Brian Pillman Jr., in the two years
03:33since the team's summer 2020 inception, neither star has seriously taken a moment or high-profile
03:38match by the scruff of its neck, and given AEW's vocal audience something to remember them by.
03:43In fact, despite finding themselves with a ton of TV time, arguably the group's most notable
03:47achievement to date comes in the form of Pillman being bullied by MGF, and Julia Hart teasing a
03:52walk on the DAC side with the House of Bleck. There's still time for the youngsters to come good,
03:57of course, but the first few bids to make them all EliteNet's big tag thing have left a lot to be
04:01desired.
04:026. Brian Cage
04:04While not explicitly known for their over-reliance on mountains of meat bumping into each other for
04:08fans' enjoyment, many still felt that AEW's supremely talented roster were lacking an intimidating
04:14powerhouse force to put the rest of those darned superworkers on notice. Enter the machine Brian Cage.
04:20It looked like a bit of a no-brainer move for Tony Khan coming into Double or Nothing 2020,
04:24and Wolverine's immediate aligning with Taz only added more spice to an already intriguing arrival.
04:29Yet, for all of the building and pushing is a serious force to be reckoned with. Whilst holding
04:34on to his FTW Championship, Cage's routine stumbling at the final hurdle eventually took
04:38its toll on those watching on. And his battle against Hangman Page at the events where he
04:43made his debut one year on sits as one of both men's finest. But AEW's lack of desire to hand Cage
04:48a substantial W ultimately left Cage's all Elite reputation in tatters. Here's hoping his ROH
04:54stint can reignite this machine. 5. Marco Stunt
04:57News of Marco Stunt's departure from Tony Khan's company earlier this month, while admittedly
05:02unfortunate, felt somewhat inevitable. Jumping back to those early days of the Land of All
05:06Elite suggested a different ending to this tale, however, as the Jurassic Express cheerleader
05:11frequently found himself being well-utilized as a high-flying complement to Jungle Boy and
05:15Luchasaurus' innovative offense. Or a sack of meat to be pulverized by whatever indomitable heel
05:21needed a dominant victory over a plucky face. Dynamic beatings at the hands of Brodie Lee
05:26and Lance Archer in 2020 likely sat as Stunt's most eye-catching achievements within an All
05:31Elite ring, though, in all honesty. And as the talent level kept arising by the month in a deeply
05:36competitive AEW landscape, TK's attempts to keep Stunt relevant as his go-to fun-sized underdog
05:41begun to fall flat towards the latter part of 2021. The writing was always on the wall for this energetic
05:47youngster. 4. Jake Hager Showing up as part of Chris Jericho's newly-formed
05:51Inner Circle faction to close out AEW's first-ever Wednesday Night Danimad show, more than a few
05:56heads were turned at the mainstream re-emergence of the one-time Jack Swagger. Eager to wash away
06:01the stench of We the People and an ultimately lackluster run within Vinnie Mac's empire, AEW then
06:06set about presenting Jake Hager as a part-time MMA badass who could also be spotted genuinely busting
06:11heads in the Bellator cage during his spells away from the All Elite Squared Circle. And while the towering
06:17go-to muscle for Le Champion has been handled substantially better than he was in WWE, though that's
06:22not saying much. That still hasn't necessarily equated to the paying public giving much of a damn about
06:27the former World Heavyweight Champion. Whether due to his aforementioned MMA commitments, or TK's
06:31realization that trying to make the largely dull Hager a bona fide singles force was always leading to a
06:36disappointing dead end. It's safe to assume the one-time swagger will remain slotted into Jericho's
06:41multi-man endeavors as an efficient silent enforcer for the foreseeable.
06:453. Sammy Guevara Sammy Guevara was gifted the opportunity to sit underneath the Chris Jericho
06:50learning tree, on the back of the wrestling legend witnessing him at an NWA show and noting,
06:55This guy is good, he looks like an asshole. Charming Chris. The path was clear from there on out.
07:00Give the Spanish God the tools and experience he needed to take his place as the future of all
07:04elite wrestling. And upon departing and eventually returning to his in-ring family on the back of some
07:09clashes with the eventual turncoat, MJF, Guevara's ascension to stand-alone babyface sensation was
07:14seemingly completed, with a crowd-popping TNT Championship victory over Miro in September.
07:19And the wheels started to come off. A game of TNT hot potato with Cody Rhodes would pave the way for
07:24the audience ultimately turning on the two-belt boasting, an increasingly smug, crazy wrestler,
07:30despite AEW still clearly angling for him to fight the good fight. Real-life girlfriend Ty Conte rocking up at
07:35his side hasn't helped matters either, as yet more title tossing between himself and Scorpio Sky would
07:40result in fans growing equally tired of the over-affectionate twosome and the self-professed
07:45man of the hour. It's all a bit of a mess, really. And speaking of which, number two, Scorpio Sky.
07:50For what feels like an absolute age, calls for Scorpio Sky to be handed the AEW singles ball to run with
07:56have been ringing out around the wrestling community. Even with the undoubted want for the one-time SCU star to
08:01excel in the one-on-one arena, though, things still haven't quite clicked for the reigning TNT
08:06champion. But it is not through lack of trying. After being handed the illustrious honour of being
08:10one-half of the first-ever AEW World Tag Team Champions, the undeniably talented worker would
08:15capture more headlines with a strong showing against then-AW World Champion Chris Jericho.
08:20A face of the Revolution ladder match victory would follow, of course, but defeat in his subsequent
08:24TNT title match against Darby Allin derailed his momentum once more as his reputation as an
08:29all-elite nearly man grew. Timing is everything in this industry, and it increasingly feels like
08:34Sky is destined to continue being the right man at the wrong time. With a recent organic face turn
08:39once again being squandered in favour of the Apple mentioned insistence on trying to keep the Guevara
08:44good guy project alive. 1. Abaddon
08:47Introduced on Dark as something of a wildcard throughout 2020, the unsettling presence of
08:52frightening newcomer Abaddon was enough to make just about everyone sit up and take notice of a
08:57women's division that was still finding its feet in the thick of the pandemic.
09:01Former attempts to double down on her ghoulish presentation on Dynamite, with the gory gal
09:05taking a gruesome bite out of then-AW Women's World Champion Hikaru Shida sitting as the most
09:10glaring misstep. Yet AW were determined to stick with the real-life Monica Bednell as their resident
09:15big bad monster to overcome, as she picked up a string of victories on Dark throughout 2021,
09:20heading into a violent but still losing effort against the hottest act in the division,
09:25Dr. Britt Baker, on Rampage in October. But away from relying on her to provide the cheap
09:29scares come Halloween season, TK's never-ending quest to build Abaddon into an all-conquering
09:34in-house zombie will continue to underwhelm for as long as he fails to provide her with an
09:38all-important win that doesn't go down on bloody YouTube.
09:42And that's our list of any other wrestlers AW tried and failed to get over. Let us know all about
09:47them in the comment section right down below, and do not forget to like, share, and click on that
09:51subscribe button while you're at it. Also, if you like this kind of thing, then head on over to
09:54whatculture.com and find some more incredible articles just like the one this video you're
09:58watching right now is based on. I've been Gareth from WhatCulture Wrestling, thank you as always for
10:02clicking on this video today, and hopefully I will see your faces very, very soon. Bye-bye!
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