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2023 was a big year for roster changes in AEW, with several stars and big names like CM Punk where released from the company. In this video, we take a deep dive into each AEW star who parted ways with the promotion in 2023. Find out where they are now, which companies they’ve joined, and how their careers are shaping up since leaving AEW
You can also visit our site: https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe
#cmpunk #jadecargill #shawnspears #andrade #aew #wwe #wrestling #sportskeedawrestling
Play now to find out - https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe/brainbuster-wwe-player-guessing-game
2023 was a big year for roster changes in AEW, with several stars and big names like CM Punk where released from the company. In this video, we take a deep dive into each AEW star who parted ways with the promotion in 2023. Find out where they are now, which companies they’ve joined, and how their careers are shaping up since leaving AEW
You can also visit our site: https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe
#cmpunk #jadecargill #shawnspears #andrade #aew #wwe #wrestling #sportskeedawrestling
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SportsTranscript
00:00If you're going to be in a major televised wrestling promotion, talent will come and
00:04some talent will unfortunately go, and AEW, the challenger brand in professional wrestling,
00:11has had a lot of wrestlers leave the roster, especially last year in 2023 with natural
00:17growing pains and a lot of people expecting different changes.
00:22Some managed to find a place in WWE, rekindling old rivalries or carving out new paths, while
00:28others ventured into the independent wrestling scene seeking creative freedom and exploring
00:33new opportunities.
00:34Each departure marked the end of one chapter and the beginning of another in the constantly
00:39evolving world of televised wrestling talent in our modern times.
00:44So let's get into it, this is Sportskeeda Wrestling, I'm Kevin Callum, let us know
00:48who you love that maybe isn't getting that spotlight in All Elite Wrestling or even WWE,
00:54get in those comments below.
00:56Let's start with the biggest name on the list, CM Punk.
01:00We all know what happened with CM Punk in AEW, he was involved in a backstage brawl
01:05with the Elite following his infamous media scrum at the All Out Pay Per View event in
01:102022 in Chicago which led to a suspension and him losing the title and him being injured
01:17and then some people saying he's not suspended and a weird legal situation and the Young
01:21Bucks who were executives and Kenny Omega also being suspended and Ace Steel who was
01:25a producer for the company being fired, it was a pretty messy situation.
01:29He returned to All Elite Wrestling in June of 2023 with a new weekly TV show where he
01:35would be featured prominently, Collision, however things didn't go as planned.
01:40At AEW's biggest premium event ever, All In, at the jam-packed Wembley Stadium in London,
01:47Jack Perry used glass during his match on the pre-show, that's right, not the main
01:52card, he then used this opportunity on a big streaming pre-show to look directly at the
01:58camera and say, real glass, cry me a river.
02:03This reportedly infuriated Punk who was backstage getting ready to open the main pay per view
02:08card.
02:09The two previously had a disagreement backstage where Jack insisted on using a real piece
02:15of glass in the ramp-up to this match while Punk advised against it and after the match
02:21tensions escalated in Wembley leading to Punk to confront Perry and it got physical.
02:27There was less than a week between AEW's All In event in London and the All Out pay
02:32per view in Chicago, Punk's hometown.
02:35They were set to run a two-night residency with a Collision TV broadcast on the Saturday
02:41night before and the All Out pay per view event on that Sunday night.
02:46On the night before this event, in Punk's hometown, Tony Khan appeared on camera on
02:52the Collision broadcast and then separately in front of the live audience where he declared
02:58that he feared for his life backstage at All In during a physical altercation between Punk
03:05and Jack Perry that was widely reported.
03:07He then announced that CM Punk had been fired with cause from AEW and his contract was terminated.
03:15It was another scene, another big pay per view where AEW wasn't putting headlines on
03:20what was happening in the ring but unfortunately things that were happening backstage that
03:24had nothing to do with pro wrestling.
03:27It was widely seen as a divisive call to make with many within the industry and fans watching
03:32taking different sides on whether or not it was right to release such a high profile
03:37star in CM Punk who had brought so much attention to the brand in his short time there.
03:43But that's maybe another video you can watch.
03:46This was the beginning of September and just a few months later in the same city that has
03:50become a destination for so many wrestling fans to see major matches and moments, the
03:56Second City Saint was bound to make yet another major comeback, one that many were still shocked
04:04but saw coming.
04:06After his unceremonious exit from AEW, there was one place for a name like CM Punk to go,
04:13a place that many people thought he would never return due to major legal issues between
04:18both sides.
04:20But he had to go back to WWE, right?
04:23At Survivor Series WarGames in Chicago yet again, Punk made his highly anticipated return
04:30to WWE at the end of the event and the following night delivered an impassionate promo on Monday
04:38Night Raw declaring that he was back home.
04:41I was there that night in Chicago at the Allstate Arena when Punk came back.
04:46It was one of the loudest pops I've ever heard.
04:52Punk would enter the 2024 Royal Rumble but couldn't secure a victory and unfortunately
04:57suffered another untimely injury during the match.
05:00Drew McIntyre took credit for the injury, igniting a deeply personal and thrilling feud
05:05between the two.
05:06They have been going at one another since January, with Punk costing Drew the championship
05:11on several occasions and Drew laying out Punk on several occasions.
05:16WWE also teased a feud between Punk and Seth Rollins that has been simmering due to real-life
05:22issues and real-life things they've said about each other.
05:25Punk's return to WWE irrefutably has been successful so far, with a lot of people watching
05:31online, streaming and television platforms for everything that's been going on with
05:35him.
05:36Plus, he's been a huge merchandise mover in this entire feud with Drew McIntyre, despite
05:40only having a handful of matches tied to the entire thing.
05:44Another name who left AEW tied to the entire CM Punk thing was pro-wrestling veteran Ace
05:49Steel, who worked for the company in a backstage capacity as a producer.
05:54He also made a brief appearance on television in Punk's lead-up to a match with Jon Moxley.
05:58Ace Steel was involved in that entire All Out 2022 brawl and unfortunately left the
06:03company under those circumstances.
06:05However, after the brawl, Ace Steel was released only to be rehired in May of 2023 but did
06:11not last long and he reported on September 7th that he was released from the company.
06:16Since leaving AEW, Steel has been working with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a producer
06:21and also made an on-screen appearance.
06:23He's also launched his own, very reputable pro-wrestling school, The Foundation of Pro-Wrestling.
06:29Next is Brian Pillman Jr., the son of wrestling legend The Loose Cannon Brian Pillman has
06:34continued on the family's wrestling legacy in AEW with a lot of potential behind him
06:40before he signed with the company.
06:41He started on a tag team with Griff Garrison, adopted the name of the Varsity Blondes and
06:47mostly competed on the show AEW Dark, a web series.
06:51He had matches with the likes of MJF, Malakai Black, but wasn't able to make a name for
06:55himself in AEW.
06:57He soon just got lost in the shuffle like unfortunately too many talented people get
07:02in pro-wrestling and he would compete in his last televised match on Dynamite against Swerve
07:07Strickland in February of 2023.
07:10By July, he was off of the official AEW roster page with his contract expiring.
07:16Reports surfaced that he was training at the WWE Performance Center.
07:20News would soon follow that he had signed a fresh deal with WWE.
07:24However, it was something different, or rather a different name.
07:28He was no longer Brian Pillman Jr., he changed his ring name to Lexus King and in on-camera
07:34vignettes he would denounce his revered father in darkly toned promos, establishing himself
07:42as a resentful heel.
07:43The good guy schtick was gone and he appeared as an entitled wrestler who detested his family's
07:49legacy that he was born into.
07:51Off-camera, Pillman, or Lexus, would share some doubt about relinquishing the family
07:57name during an interview with SiriusXM's Busted Open.
08:01He stated,
08:20He faced former NXT champion Carmelo Hayes at the NXT Deadline event and has competed
08:25for the NXT North American Championship twice.
08:28While he hasn't captured gold in NXT just yet, the future looks promising for Lexus
08:33King in WWE.
08:35QT Marshall is also someone who left AEW in 2023.
08:40He was known for his feuds with Cody Rhodes in 2021.
08:43He was also part of the core talent that helped launch AEW and performed not just as a wrestler
08:48but as an associate producer.
08:51He was in Cody Rhodes' Nightmare Factory stable only to turn on Cody and start his
08:56own group with Anthony Ogogo, Nick Coromaroto, and Aaron Solo.
09:02In November of 2023, Marshall announced that he would be leaving the company at the end
09:06of the year.
09:07However, he'd be brought back in February of 2024 as part of a new deal.
09:11Marshall would not be an on-screen performer for AEW but continues to remain active on
09:15the independent circuit and internationally.
09:18Up next is Sonny Kiss.
09:19Sonny Kiss was one of the first wrestlers signed to AEW in 2019.
09:24Over the years, Kiss has faced a mixture of victories and setbacks, including forming
09:30a successful tag team with Joey Janela, the Bad Boy, competing against notable opponents
09:36like Cody Rhodes for the AEW Championship.
09:39Kiss would feud with the former tag team partner Janela and they would have a really great
09:44hardcore match on AEW Dark, but unfortunately, not enough fans got to see it because it was
09:50on a web series and not the big weekly TV show everyone makes an appointment with.
09:55Following this, Kiss would align herself with the Trustbusters, making her first heel turn
10:00in AEW.
10:01That didn't do much and in September of 2023, Kiss' profile was removed from AEW's official
10:06website with Tony Khan confirming that Kiss was no longer with the company.
10:10Following this, Kiss debuted with Impact Wrestling at their Bound for Glory event in the participating
10:15role of the 20-person intergender call-your-shot gauntlet match and nearly stole the whole
10:21thing in a moment with Bully Ray.
10:23They made quite the mark there.
10:25The luchador Fuego Del Sol is another wrestler who left AEW in 2023, brought into the company
10:30as really an enhancement talent, Del Sol was involved in some memorable segments with Rampage
10:36and Dynamite.
10:37He challenged Miro for the TNT Championship in 2021 and got destroyed.
10:43Despite this, he was offered an official AEW contract.
10:46He was also involved in Hook's debut match where he made the cold-hearted handsome devil
10:52look quite good.
10:53He made his final AEW appearance in February of 2023, AEW Dark, yeah, the web series where
10:59he lost to Juice Robinson, and on the June 22, 2023 date, he sadly announced that he
11:05had left the company.
11:07Since then, he has been working the independent circuit actively.
11:10Brock Anderson, the son of the legendary wrestler Arn Anderson, also left AEW.
11:16He made his professional wrestling debut in June of 2021, teaming up with Cody Rhodes,
11:22yes, a close friend to the Andersons, to defeat QT Marshall and Aaron Solo in a match on Dynamite.
11:29He also performed in matches on Dark and AEW Dark Elevation.
11:33In July 2022, he teamed with Brian Pillman Jr. to challenge the Rock and Roll Express
11:38as part of Ric Flair's last match event.
11:41What a great way to connect generations there, and went on to win the match.
11:45However, he couldn't do much in the company, and in October of 2023, he left AEW.
11:51He then decided to make his hand at Major League Wrestling, and teamed up with C.W.
11:55Anderson, an ECW veteran, to beat J.Leon and Love on his MLW debut match at the MLW Summer
12:04of the Beasts event.
12:05The Bunny, aka Allie, decided to leave AEW after a four-year tenure.
12:11She made her AEW debut as a manager with her husband, The Blade, and his partner, The Butcher,
12:16yes, you may know him as Andy from the great hardcore band Every Time I Die.
12:21However, she has competed in in-ring competition sporadically.
12:25Her 2021 bitter rivalry saw her team with Penelope Ford against Tay Conti and Anna Jay
12:31in a 4.5 star Meltzer-rated hardcore classic tag team match from Dynamite.
12:38It is still remembered as one of the best women's matches in AEW.
12:43Allie took her part in the AEW TBS Championship tournament, and unfortunately lost.
12:48She didn't do much after this, and left the company in 2023 after both parties mutually
12:53agreed to part ways.
12:54She has revealed right now that she's focusing on her figure skating and her new horror-related
12:59side projects, giving her body a much-needed break after being in the bumping business
13:04of pro wrestling for nearly 20 years.
13:06Plus, she had many great years with Impact Wrestling prior to AEW.
13:10Excuse me, yes, we do have to talk about Vickie Guerrero.
13:14She got her heat in many, many ways during a very, very successful run in WWE, and was
13:19introduced in AEW in 2020 at the Fight for the Fallen event, and was revealed as Nyla
13:26Rose's manager.
13:28She then went on to manage Andrade El Illio, though that didn't last that long.
13:32She continued appearing on AEW Dark and Dark Elevation web series alongside Nyla Rose and
13:38Marina Shafir until her contract was not renewed after it expired.
13:43She departed from Allie Wrestling in July of 2023, and has since stepped away from the
13:47pro wrestling scene altogether.
13:49Andrade, yes, El Illio, had his last match in AEW at the World's End pay-per-view event
13:56against Miro in a losing effort.
13:59And it was widely expected that he would exit the company, and some people thought Miro
14:03would leave with him, though reportedly he's still under contract with Allie Wrestling.
14:08He made quite the name for himself in AEW since he joined the company in 2021.
14:13He competed in many high-profile matches against the likes of Cody Rhodes and others.
14:17He was seen as a legitimate wrestling talent with a lot of potential for the company to
14:21help them break into Latin America, and he wasn't able to win any real championships
14:27in AEW.
14:28His time in the company came to an end, and during the Continental Classic tournament,
14:32though, he finished with 9 points, so they didn't send him out in a bad way, and he
14:36got to end his run there on pay-per-view.
14:38He started a feud with Miro following this, and had his last match against him at World's
14:42End.
14:43His contract with AEW expired at the end of 2023.
14:46Andrade is a man raised in the pro wrestling business and one of the biggest luchadores
14:49in the world, but that doesn't mean he was bound to head back to the world of lucha.
14:53No, he was bound to make a return to WWE, and just a few short weeks after leaving AEW,
14:59he made his return at the Royal Rumble, lasting 23 minutes.
15:04Right now he's involved in a very competitive issue with Carmelo Hayes, and has appeared
15:08regularly on SmackDown.
15:10Shawn Spears is another name who left WWE seeking what many fans felt he deserved, a
15:17lot more than just being the guy who did the perfect 10 chance, he wanted to gain some
15:21real attention.
15:22He would debut in AEW on their first pay-per-view, the Double or Nothing event, and was brought
15:28more legitimacy to the promotion than some people were expecting.
15:32He was a true utility player, he was more serious, he was meaner, he was more callous,
15:37and he proved he could be really gnarly and violent when he crushed a steel chair over
15:41the head of Cody Rhodes, with whom he got to face at the All Out pay-per-view event.
15:47Spears would then be featured in the Pinnacle Faction, which was basically a glorified goon
15:51squad built around MJ Effie, and they were given the warring opposition against Chris
15:57Jericho's Inner Circle group.
15:59The Faction Warfare saw Spears play a role in several major matches, including Blood
16:04and Guts, and big-time angles on Dynamite and numerous pay-per-view events.
16:09Spears may have never been the guy in All Elite, but his reliable veteran skills proved
16:14himself to be a sound performer, and could nail the parts when they were given to him.
16:19Spears would make a surprise return to WWE NXT, yes, the show where he first had major
16:25televised success, attacking Ridge Holland after weeks of vignettes leading up to a mysterious
16:31figure making an appearance, and that steel chair once again came in handy.
16:36Spears continues to be THE chairman, so take a seat and let's see what he does next.
16:40It was widely reported, and it was seen as another big loss for All Elite Wrestling when
16:45Jade Cargill had her departure and leave over to another company.
16:51The storm was coming, and apparently leaving as well, Jade Cargill's departure from All
16:56Elite Wrestling was a huge blow to the company in 2023.
17:00Upon arriving there in 2020, AEW presented Cargill as a breakout star, almost like a
17:07female Goldberg that not many fans were familiar with, but excited to see.
17:12She was instantly undeniable.
17:14She was one of the most successful wrestlers seen as a homegrown property, though she did
17:20have a tryout with WWE before joining All Elite.
17:24They would stack up her win-loss record, and despite having little experience in professional
17:28wrestling, Cargill felt like a natural.
17:31She quickly adapted to the situation and became the first-ever TBS champion in 2022.
17:37She defended her title against multiple challengers, building up an impressive undefeated streak
17:42all the way up to her end with the company.
17:45After holding the title for more than 500 days, she eventually lost it to Chris Statlander,
17:51who also ended her unbeaten streak.
17:54But that wasn't a momentum killer, no.
17:57She was going somewhere else.
17:58But after this, rumors began circulating that Cargill was on the verge of leaving AEW and
18:04joining WWE.
18:06And that's exactly what happened.
18:08After her departure from AEW in September of 2023, she reported to the WWE Performance
18:13Center in a big social media rollout that WWE was very much behind.
18:19She reportedly signed a multi-year contract with the company, WWE has also made a talent
18:24acquisition like this very public.
18:26Something different that we haven't seen before in the issues and competition between
18:31WWE and All Elite Wrestling.
18:33She then named brief cameos on Raw, NXT, and SmackDown, showing how much WWE really wanted
18:39their fans to get familiar with her, and they were hinting at which brand she would align
18:43herself with.
18:44In January of 2024, Cargill made her in-ring debut in the biggest way possible at the Royal
18:50Rumble, entering at number 28.
18:53She eliminated the formidable former champion Nia Jax, Becky Lynch, and Naomi, before being
19:00eliminated by Liv Morgan herself.
19:02Clearly, one of the biggest debuts by any woman in the history of WWE.
19:07At WrestleMania 40, she teamed with Bianca Belair and Naomi to defeat Damage Control,
19:13and later captured the Women's Tag Team Championships alongside the EST Belair.
19:19Cargill is undoubtedly a rising star to keep an eye on, and many people expect a huge WrestleMania
19:25match and moment for her in the future.
19:27Oh wow, look at that, you watched the whole thing, thank you so much.
19:30Let us know what you think in the comments below, and let us know what other wrestling
19:34talents you think are on a major televised wrestling promotion like a WWE, an AEW, a
19:40TNA, who simply isn't getting the spotlight they deserve.
19:43Yeah, we'd love to hear from you, get in the comments below.
19:46Also, hit that like button, turn your notifications on so you know when you get new videos like
19:50this from Sportskeeda Wrestling.