10 WWE and AEW Stars Who Have to Swap Promotions in 2024

The various recent and acquainted faces popping up pretty frequently in WWE and AEW today have made the professional wrestling panorama extraordinarily thrilling and enjoyable to observe.

It is led to a a surge of unpredictability that the enterprise hasn’t had in many years. It is mutually useful for the expertise with the quantity of alternatives they now have obtainable to them.

That is along with the numerous contracts which can be both on the verge of expiring or will quickly expire. Free company is presently stockpiled with stars who can be invaluable property to any firm good sufficient to land them.

Regardless of that, there are a selection of names who really feel stagnant with the place they’re and what they’re doing—or not doing—for the time being. Ethan Web page was the newest star to go away AEW for WWE, whereas former WWE ladies’s champion Mercerdes Moné has been a large addition to the AEW roster since arriving earlier this yr.

Between WWE thriving creatively and AEW selecting up steam once more heading into the summer season, these are the ten wrestlers who would profit probably the most from a change of surroundings within the opposing promotion.

Greater than every other lively star on the AEW roster, Ricky Starks needs to be eyeing the exit for greener pastures in WWE.

The previous FTW champion had his final televised match for AEW on the March 30 version of Collision the place he appeared to undergo an harm that prompted the competition to be lower brief. In an interview with WhatCulture Wrestling, Starks confirmed he is not presently harm and that he has “no clue” why he hasn’t been used as of late.

The one rationalization is that AEW president Tony Khan is assured that Starks is on his method as quickly as his contract expires. No definitive date has been revealed, however it might be as quickly as this summer season assuming he signed a four-year deal when he joined the corporate in June 2020.

Starks shouldn’t be solely proficient within the ring however can also be exceptionally expert on the mic and has unparalleled charisma. All of these parts mixed would guarantee he excels in WWE if afforded the chance.

AEW alum Ethan Web page has instantly been positioned as a principal occasion participant in NXT shortly after arriving and Ricky Starks would possible discover himself in an analogous spot if he have been to make his method over ultimately.

In a little bit of breaking information, PWInsider reported on June 8 that Ricochet has given his discover to WWE forward of his contract expiring this summer season. As such, he’s anticipated to be written off Uncooked within the coming weeks.

He arrived in WWE to a lot fanfare on the onset of 2018 after making a reputation for himself in New Japan Professional-Wrestling, Lucha Underground and on the impartial scene. He was showcased as an attraction in NXT and received the NXT North American Championship inside a matter of months however noticed his inventory plummet as soon as he hit the primary roster.

Though he is held the Intercontinental Championship and the US Championship prior to now 5 years, neither reign was all that memorable. He is had his justifiable share of enjoyable matchups and moments, however he is by no means felt remotely as particular as he ought to being the most effective high-fliers in wrestling as we speak.

That is precisely what would make him such a improbable match for AEW. It is protected to imagine he’d be misplaced within the shuffle with there being so many guys who’re additionally aerial specialists already on the roster, however the quantity of dream matches he might have underneath that banner are limitless.

Ricochet vs. Will Ospreay alone will likely be an instantaneous basic.

Hook exceeded all expectations upon making his in-ring debut in late 2021 and was the proper individual to carry the FTW Championship—a title created by his father Taz many years earlier—the following summer season.

Regardless of racking up wins over Ricky Starks, Wheeler Yuta, Jack Perry and different prime expertise, Hook has been seemingly been caught on the identical stage for what appears like ages. In concept, feuding with a future Corridor of Famer in Chris Jericho ought to have elevated him to the following stage, however their storyline has solely cooled him off significantly.

Per SEScoops, Hook’s AEW contract is about to run out later this yr and he plans to discover free company. Moreover, WWE is rumored to have heavy curiosity, as they need to.

The largest piece lacking from Hook’s general recreation is the steerage and expertise the Efficiency Middle might present. He’d be a super candidate for a run in NXT, the place he might additional hone his abilities and truly ascend the cardboard.

The FTW Championship will solely take him up to now, and in AEW, he is certain to get overshadowed by the huge expertise pool the promotion already has.

WWE has by no means fairly found out how you can finest make the most of Apollo Crews.

The perfect run he is had with the corporate since signing practically a decade in the past got here within the first half of 2021 when he reigned as Intercontinental champion for a four-month interval. He discovered his footing as a heel, solely to undergo from subpar reserving throughout his reign and by no means be booked at that very same stage once more.

Crews skilled a profession resurgence when he returned to NXT in 2022 the place he got here near capturing the NXT Championship however has hardly had a presence on the primary roster for the final year-plus.

It is clear WWE solely sees him as a stepping stone for the larger stars, whereas going to AEW may really permit him to start out anew and present the world what he is actually able to within the ring.

He is doomed to stay on the enhancement stage for the rest of his WWE tenure. There is no assure he’d be any extra profitable in AEW, however being given a recent batch of opponents to work with—together with on the impartial scene—might do him a world of excellent.

AEW was excessive sufficient on Thunder Rosa that she was booked prominently on AEW TV even whereas nonetheless with the NWA in late 2020 into the primary half of 2021. Upon placing pen to paper with the promotion, she grew to become the focus of the ladies’s division and went on to win the AEW Ladies’s World Championship from Britt Baker in March 2022.

Between lackluster storylines and being given minimal mic time, her reign fell flat. A career-threatening again harm pressured her to relinquish the title that August and lose all of the momentum she managed to construct as much as that time.

It wasn’t till December 2023 that she lastly resurfaced, however AEW’s ladies’s scene had expanded exponentially in her absence. She bought her rightful rematch for the title she was by no means crushed for at Dynasty, got here up brief and has been a background participant ever since.

WWE’s ladies’s division is equally stacked—if no more so—however a present corresponding to Uncooked might drastically profit from having a star of her caliber in its ranks. She’s each skilled and simple to rally behind, making her a superb opponent for the likes of Rhea Ripley, Liv Morgan, Becky Lynch and others.

Until she quickly units her sights on the AEW TBS Championship, Rosa’s ceiling in AEW feels restricted.

It has been an awesome whereas since Shayna Baszler was final considered as a legit risk to anybody on the WWE roster.

All through her tenure in NXT, she was an imposing determine who persistently backed up her trash speaking with two dominant reigns as NXT Ladies’s champion. Sadly, her principal roster run was botched very early on and he or she by no means recovered.

Baszler has been a mainstay within the ladies’s tag crew scene for years with Zoey Stark being her newest accomplice. Nothing she’s concerned in is value getting enthusiastic about with it already being a foregone conclusion that she’ll lose when it issues most.

Even at 43, The Queen of Spades nonetheless has fairly a bit to supply and can be a welcome addition to AEW’s ladies’s division. She’d get a recent coat of paint just by swapping promotions and should have the ability lure Ronda Rousey out of her present sabbatical for yet one more run if she so chooses.

Maybe she’d fly underneath the radar there as properly, however it’s value a shot in comparison with being caught difficult for the WWE Ladies’s Tag Crew Championship prefer it’s Groundhog Day.

It is excessive time Baszler remind everybody simply how harmful she could be.

Malakai Black’s underwhelming WWE run left followers excited for what he had in retailer for AEW.

His debut feud with Cody Rhodes established him as a power to be reckoned with proper out of the gate, however the follow-up was virtually nonexistent. He settled right into a midcard function earlier than forming Home of Black and disappearing from tv for months at a time.

He held the AEW World Trios Championship for a five-month stretch and just lately challenged Adam Copeland for the AEW TNT Championship, however his highlights in AEW are far and few between.

It is necessary to level out that his final WWE stint occurred when Vince McMahon was nonetheless on the helm creatively. Black was a serious participant in Paul Levesque’s NXT and would presumably be given a good shot if he have been to return to WWE down the road.

When given the correct materials to work with in his promos, he comes throughout like a complete star. The WWE presentation would higher go well with his act and get him nearer to championship competition on Uncooked or SmackDown than in AEW, the place it is obvious he has a sure ceiling.

Fightful Select reported final fall that Sheamus’ WWE contract was set to run out someday in 2024. Oddly sufficient, there’s been no replace on what his future holds and if he intends to re-sign if he hasn’t already.

He returned from a protracted layoff shortly following WrestleMania 40 and rekindled his rivalry with Drew McIntyre. He has since shifted his focus towards Ludwig Kaiser, who he put over in a match on the June 3 version of Uncooked.

This month marks 15 years that The Celtic Warrior has been wrestling on WWE’s principal roster, and in time, he is just about finished all of it. The Intercontinental Championship is the one accolade that has alluded him to date and it is potential he’ll stay with WWE till he will get a run with the distinguished prize.

He continues to ship “banger after banger” each time he steps contained in the squared circle and has cemented his spot as a beloved fan favourite towards the highest of the cardboard. Nonetheless, if competing on the highest stage is what’s most necessary to him, a transfer to AEW would take advantage of sense.

There, he might combine it up with a ton of expertise he is by no means crossed paths with earlier than, to not point out the matches he might have in New Japan Professional-Wrestling and AEW’s different accomplice promotions.

Wardlow’s fall from grace in AEW has been massively disappointing to look at unfold.

He was properly positioned as MJF’s bodyguard from the get-go and organically bought over as a babyface by turning on him three years into their partnership. He beat the soon-to-be AEW World champion within the greatest match of his profession at Double or Nothing 2022 however floundered as soon as he received the AEW TNT Championship shortly thereafter.

Holding that title on three separate events did him no favors as a result of he was by no means booked correctly throughout any of the reigns. There was hope amongst followers that his heel flip late final yr and becoming a member of The Undisputed Kingdom would end result a renewed push for him, however he is up to now been a non-factor on AEW TV in 2024.

Wardlow could be very a lot a homegrown AEW expertise in the identical method Jade Cargill was. The inaugural AEW TBS champion has since signed with WWE and Wardlow ought to observe go well with.

His measurement and look would bode properly for his probabilities in WWE. Because it presently stands in AEW, there isn’t any cause to imagine he’ll quantity to rather more than he already has, which might be a waste of his potential if he decides to remain put.

AJ Kinds is scheduled to problem Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship at Cash within the Financial institution on June 15. Their preliminary encounter in the primary occasion of Backlash was one among WWE’s finest bouts of 2024 up to now.

All issues thought-about, The Phenomenal One is not in a foul spot today.

This got here after years of him being underutilized on the midcard—and generally tag crew—stage. He was hardly a precedence as he entered the twilight of his in-ring profession.

As soon as his present push as the highest heel on SmackDown involves an finish, it is not assured he’ll be spotlighted as a lot as he has been in current months. All indicators level to him driving off into the sundown whereas with WWE, however a final hurrah in AEW would permit him to exit on prime.

Reuniting with The Elite, a dream match with Kenny Omega and operating it again with Kazuchika Okada are among the many many potentialities that might come to fruition if he have been to affix the rival promotion.

The 47-year-old Kinds will not be the extraordinary athlete he as soon as was, however he has sufficient left within the tank for yet one more huge run. Ideally, WWE will deal with with him with nothing however reverence in his ultimate few years, however there is a larger probability AEW would give him the sensational sendoff he deserves.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham “GSM” Matthews, has specialised in sports activities and leisure writing since 2010. Go to his web site, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for extra wrestling-related content material.