10 Wrestlers Who Will Never Leave AEW
From AEW Originals, to independent veterans, these All Elite wrestlers are going nowhere...
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00 From the folks who helped make the hottest wrestling brand on the planet a thing in the
00:03 first place, to those who have seemingly burned all bridges with the competition,
00:07 this talented lot will likely have all-elite jobs for as long as Tony Khan feels like playing
00:11 wrestling promoter. Gareth here from WhatCulture Wrestling and here are 10 wrestlers who will never
00:16 leave AEW. Number 10, Jon Moxley. Clearly having the time of his damn life at the time of recording
00:21 alongside Bryan Danielson, Wheeler Uter, and William Regal as part of the deliciously violent
00:26 Blackpool Combat Club, the Jon Moxley scene smashing heads and whipping all-elite crowds
00:30 up into routine frenzies is about as far removed from the lunatic fringe as humanly possible.
00:35 And it's because of this fact, coupled with Moxley's disenchantment with Vinnie Mac's empire
00:39 in particular, on the back of a soul-crushing last stint with the company, that a departure
00:43 from Tony Khan's ranks appears unlikely to say the least. Add into that the highly sensitive
00:47 handling and reaction to the former AEW World Champion's recent trip to rehab to seek help for
00:52 his issues with alcohol abuse, and it's not too difficult to see why Mox won't be in much of a
00:56 rush to kiss goodbye to a promotion that thankfully appears to value both the world-class performer
01:01 and man behind the menace. Mox is in his all-elite element, whilst also being given the license to
01:06 wreak havoc on the indies whilst under TK's contract. If it ain't broken, all that.
01:11 Number 9, FTR. Another set of lads who have very much enjoyed having their all-elite cake and
01:16 eating it up on the indies as of late, come in the form of two more former WWE bruisers who were left
01:20 nursing a rather bitter taste in their mouths, courtesy of the biggest wrestling company on the
01:25 planet. Reduced to little more than comedic goobers by the time they'd managed to achieve
01:29 the supposed tag team holy grail of holding the NXT, Raw, and SmackDown tag titles at one point
01:34 or another, the professional pair were even happy to be carted out in clownish get-ups dreamed up by
01:39 Vinnie Mac himself on their way out of the company. Thankfully, the glow sticks and shatter
01:43 machine necklaces were left on ice in the end, and Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood wiggled free
01:47 from the sports entertainment juggernaut to pursue their next chapter as arguably the greatest tag
01:51 team plying their trade in the business today. With Tony Khan giving the passionate pro wrestlers
01:56 the freedom to craft increasingly enthralling tag clinics, and even allowing them the time to
02:00 duke it out against each other in honour of one of their heroes, Owen Hart, recently, all supposed
02:05 talk of FTR ever kissing goodbye to AEW is likely to be taken with a pinch of salt at this stage.
02:10 Number 8, Adam Page. Paying off one of the most intricate, gripping, and satisfying storylines
02:15 in recent wrestling history, the visual of hangman Adam Page finally overcoming old pal Kenny Omega,
02:20 and winning the big one at 4Gear 2021, fully established AEW as a company capable of growing
02:26 a promising talent into a fully-fledged star. It's looking good for you, Wadlow. And even at
02:30 the age of just 30 years old, and with Agbi his best miles ahead of him, envisioning the AEW
02:35 original plying his trade in any other setting than Tony Khan's playground feels like a near
02:39 impossible task. It's not as though other companies haven't tried to obtain the services
02:43 of the angsty, current-reigning AEW World Champion either, with WWE being said to have
02:47 offered him a deal before his All Elite chapter got underway. Hangman instead decided just to have
02:52 fun with his friends, as he put it when unpacking the offer during a busted open radio appearance,
02:56 and has clearly reaped the rewards up to this point. WWE will clearly still be keeping their
03:00 eyes on Page from afar, but the smart money will be on cowboy Shizzle staying put for the foreseeable.
03:06 Number 7, Sting. If ever there was an example of the intrinsic differences between AEW and
03:11 WWE's handling of generational icons, the presentation of Sting from December 2020 onwards
03:16 highlights just how far apart the two promotions are on the subject. Becoming an ever-present
03:21 personality on AEW programming alongside fellow face-painted outcast Darby Allin,
03:25 the icon has been gifted countless opportunities to prove he still has something to offer in the
03:29 way of in-ring performance, whilst also still not stealing the spotlight away from the next
03:33 generation. This is in stark contrast to his rather depressing run within the walls of the
03:38 Land of the Giants, being forced onto the sidelines indefinitely post-Seth Rollins' buckle
03:42 bomb, and eventually relegated to the part of notable backstage presence and occasional significant
03:47 WWE network interviewee. How prestigious. In all honesty, All Elite Wrestling and Stinger is a
03:52 match made in heaven at this current moment in time. Meshing shameless nostalgia with respectful
03:56 passing of the torches aplenty, so why would the WCW legend pass up on such a good deal in
04:01 favor of risking being once again misused elsewhere? Number 6, CM Punk. Finally confirming
04:06 the worst-kept secret of 2021, and re-emerging onto the wrestling scene as part of All Elite
04:11 Wrestling with a tear in his eye, CM Punk made his official comeback to the world of professional
04:15 wrestling. And with the one-time voice of the voiceless now rediscovering the in-ring and
04:19 on-the-stick form that initially made him a household name, would there be any real sense
04:24 in blowing a definitive kiss and hopping over the All Elite guardrail? If his evident living of his
04:28 best life within the ropes of TK's promotion wasn't enough evidence of his current home likely being
04:33 his last ever within the wrestling sphere, then the fact that WWE was apparently interested in
04:37 bringing Punk back, and even offered him a deal pre-AEW only for the former WWE champion to laugh
04:42 off their approach, claiming they played games, speaks volumes. The best in the world is now
04:47 routinely proving he is precisely just that, and with the potential AEW World Championship reign
04:51 right around the corner, Punk is well aware that the grass won't get much greener elsewhere.
04:55 Number 5, Jade Cargill. Another current All Elite focal point who was once courted by Vince
05:00 McMahon's titanic promotion, also seems very much happy to keep on keeping on under the AEW banner.
05:06 He'll be forgiven for seeing the logic in an eventual move over to the world of sports
05:09 entertainment when it pertains to that bitch. And even Cargill herself has noted that how
05:14 the glitz and glamour seen in WWE is something she herself still loves. But the current undefeated
05:19 TBS champion was also quick to highlight how different her burgeoning career would have
05:23 likely played out had she opted to take WWE up on their offer. When talking to Complex Uncensored,
05:28 Cargill stated, "I made a choice. I stuck with my choice and I would never,
05:32 ever, ever, ever get the debut that I got here at AEW if I had gone to WWE. Like I would never."
05:37 The overall increased job security offered up by Tony Khan's promotion also appealed to Cargill,
05:42 with the star citing on Talk is Jericho her desire to not want to be cut or have to worry
05:46 as another reason why she knows she made the best decision. All signs point to Cargill and
05:51 her baddies very much remaining All Elite. Number 4, Britt Baker. It'd likely take a
05:55 seismic shift on a great many fronts to force Britt Baker to reconsider her place as part of
06:00 the land of All Elite. If the fact that her partner Adam Cole has just recently rocked up
06:04 in her workplace, and that the doctor is still given the freedom to run a damn dental practice
06:08 in her downtime, whilst under AEW contracts aren't big enough reasons for her to remain All Elite,
06:13 the former AEW Women's Champion's clear distrust of the opposition will likely prove too steep a
06:18 hurdle to overcome for either party. As Baker explained recently when discussing WWE's interest,
06:23 "They definitely expressed interest. Unfortunately, I've got to pick and choose how I say this,
06:27 but I just feel like you can't trust anything with that company. Whereas at AEW, I've never
06:31 been promised anything that didn't follow through." So don't expect to see this face of AEW
06:35 wander over to the other side to confront Becky Lynch over her recent provocative Women's Division
06:40 comments anytime soon. Number 3, Kenny Omega. For a time, Kenny Omega blowing the roof off
06:44 of a WWE arena as a surprise entrant in a Royal Rumble match almost felt like a formality,
06:49 didn't it? Here we are some five years or so on from those rumblings of a cleaner walking
06:53 in the very same footsteps of another one-time Bullet Club leader, and the sight of the former
06:57 AEW World Champion being the second All Elite EVP to turn his back on the white-hot promotion
07:02 is one you can all but count on never becoming a reality. Omega is about as all-in on all things
07:07 AEW as humanly possible, with his fingerprints found on everything from the incoming All Elite
07:11 video game to the presentation of the company's Women's Division, so to suddenly jump ship
07:16 wouldn't entirely add up. Admittedly, Cody likewise seemed to be very much steeped in
07:19 TK's brand, starring in his own TNT reality TV show among many other things. Yet despite Omega's
07:25 contract with AEW running out next year, the promotion's increasingly positive relationship
07:29 with New Japan Pro Wrestling and enthusiasm in presenting an alternative to the likes of WWE
07:34 will likely be enough to retain the services of the Best Bump machine indefinitely.
07:38 Number 2, The Young Bucks. Perhaps the most obvious candidates for the All Elite Forever
07:42 Society can be found spearheading undoubtedly the strongest tag division assembled in modern times.
07:48 And that's not by accident, as both Matt and Nick Jackson have both made their desire to shine a
07:52 spotlight on duos action known from the minute AEW became a thing back in January 2019. Routinely
07:58 putting on tag masterclasses, regularly finding themselves at the forefront of some of the
08:02 strongest storylines occupying wrestling at present, and earning a boatload of cash working
08:06 under a boss who clearly shares their vision, these AEW EVPs seem to have doubled down on their
08:11 All Elite pride in the wake of the American Nightmare's shocking departure. Whether simply
08:15 playing the kayfabe game or letting their true feelings be known, the brothers' recent string
08:20 of Twitter bios involving claims of their story of self-made kids who came from nothing building
08:24 a gigantic movement not being romantic enough for Cody Rhodes, act as the boldest statement yet of
08:30 their intent to remain All Elite. And with the undisputed Elite now officially forming yet
08:35 another can't-miss element of weekly AEW programming, the Bucks extending their deals
08:39 past January 2024 appears about as inevitable as another run with the tag or a set of trios
08:45 belts before long. From the minute the realest guy in the game, Eddie Kingston, took up a
08:51 microphone on his way down to the ring for an eventual no-disqualification match over the TNT
08:55 Championship against that man again, Cody Rhodes, fans knew they were witnessing something kinda
09:00 special. A last chance, a lifeline, a much-deserved spotlight. Whatever you wanna call it,
09:05 Kingston seized the moment and has refused to loosen his grip ever since. And ever the loyal
09:09 man in the trenches, frequently burying the likes of WWE for not listening to their fans,
09:13 Kingston looks very much content to see out the rest of his days under Tony Khan's stewardship,
09:18 saying as such during a recent The Straight Shooters interview, "As he put it,
09:21 AEW gave me my shot first, right? You know what I mean? I'm a loyal guy. I'm not knocking anybody,
09:26 just chill. But when people say, 'Yeah, I'm here forever,' that's cool. That's them. I'm
09:30 telling you from me, and my word is bond, I ain't got nowhere else to go and don't wanna be
09:34 anywhere else." Kingston for AEW World Champion? Do the right thing, Tony.
09:38 And that's our list! Know of any other wrestlers who will never leave AEW? Let us know all about
09:42 them in the comments section right down below and do not forget to like, share and click on
09:45 that subscribe button while you're at it. Also, if you like this kind of thing, then head on over
09:49 to WhatCulture.com and find some more awesome articles just like the one this video you're
09:53 watching right now is based on. I've been Gareth from WhatCulture Wrestling, thank you as always
09:57 for clicking on one of these videos today, and I'm sure I'll see your faces very, very, very soon.
10:02 Bye!