Inventory Up, Inventory Down on These 8 WWE and AEW Stars

The yr 2024 has been an thrilling one for each WWE and All Elite Wrestling.

WrestleMania 40 and The Rock’s return to professional wrestling was a rousing success as Cody Rhodes lastly completed the story and helped to usher in a brand new period. WWE’s newest foray into the worldwide market at Backlash France additionally proved that the product is hotter than it has been in a very long time.

In the meantime, AEW took of venture by airing the backstage footage from All In London and utilizing Tony Khan in a physical angle for the primary time. Each selections got here with their fair proportion of criticism, however The New Elite has grow to be the unpredictable spark Dynamite wanted.

The outcomes could also be up for debate. Nonetheless, Khan has additionally delivered two excellent pay-per-views to start out the yr and topped the corporate’s first Black world champion. Even essentially the most vocal critics of the highest two entities within the trade would in all probability should agree there’s something for everybody proper now.

Let’s monitor how these eight stars’ inventory has risen or dropped after the primary quarter of 2024.

After Cody Rhodes dethroned Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40, many followers questioned what his impending absence would imply for The Bloodline.

Solo Sikoa has been surprisingly convincing as its de facto chief. Thus far, the most recent iteration of the steady with Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa has been entertaining sufficient to maintain us guessing till The Tribal Chief returns.

Within the meantime, it is arduous to disclaim the 31-year-old has grown into his new function. The Bloodline is not as participating with out Reigns, however Sikoa’s stress with Paul Heyman evokes a few of the similar power his section delivered to SmackDown.

Andrade grew to become an thrilling addition to the WWE roster after he returned through the males’s Royal Rumble match in January.

Nonetheless, the corporate hasn’t achieved a lot of word with the Mexican over the previous few months. That is a disgrace as a result of the previous luchador gained a lot constructive buzz towards the top of 2023 because of his return to CMLL and glorious matches in AEW’s Continental Traditional.

At WrestleMania 40, the 34-year-old teamed up with Rey Mysterio to tackle Dominik Mysterio and Santos Escobar in a enjoyable however forgettable tag match.

Sadly, we’ve not seen him since he moved to SmackDown throughout this yr’s draft.

It was unclear how the followers would reply to Jack Perry after his suspension, however he has been great since returning to AEW at Dynasty.

The most recent member of The Elite has improved a lot as a personality and talker following his transient tour to New Japan Professional-Wrestling. He already excelled within the ring, however he added a few of the lacking intangibles throughout his time away.

The largest criticism of Perry’s heel work in 2023 was that he usually did not really feel plausible and his wood supply left a lot to be desired.

Now, the 26-year-old has a noticeable chip on his shoulder and legit warmth due to his inclusion in a prime storyline with Tony Khan and the EVPs.

AEW ought to do extra with Konosuke Takeshita, and it is arduous to know why the corporate hasn’t capitalized on his potential.

The Japanese wrestler ought to have moved on to a significant angle after his upset win over Kenny Omega at All Out final September. As an alternative, he did not take part within the Continental Traditional and languished in The Don Callis Household for the rest of the yr.

Nonetheless, the 28-year-old began 2024 sturdy with an exceptional contest in opposition to Will Ospreay and a quick successful streak. His No. 1 contender’s match versus Swerve Strickland from the March 27 episode of Dynamite was additionally distinctive, however AEW has to make the most of him higher this yr.

Bianca Belair made historical past as the primary Black girl to grow to be the No. 1 general decide within the WWE draft.

The WWE 2K24 cowl star additionally lastly vanquished Injury CTRL at Backlash and received the ladies’s tag titles for the primary time in her profession. This accolade makes her a triple-crown champion and places her on tempo to shine on this yr’s Queen of the Ring event.

Her alliance with Naomi and Jade Cargill has additionally rapidly grown into a preferred act with the potential to develop right into a long-term storyline. It is solely a matter of time earlier than she re-enters the WWE girls’s title image later this yr.

The Acclaimed are in such an odd place following their loss to Bullet Membership Gold at AEW Dynasty.

The duo nonetheless garner a loud response at stay exhibits, and their work as a tag crew is unfortunately underrated. Nonetheless, their time as a trio with Billy Gunn has grown stale, and Max Caster has grow to be a polarizing determine on-line.

After such a feel-good win at All In London, their stint with the AEW World Trios Championship was underwhelming. Actually, it might be time for the pair to return to their roots and remind followers how good they’re as a tandem.

It will even be a deal with to see Anthony Bowens in additional singles matches.

Swerve Strickland capped off a powerful run in 2023 with the most important win of his profession.

His feud with Adam Web page might go down as one of many firm’s best rivalries. Their final encounter within the Triple Risk match at Revolution left the door open for an additional showdown later this yr.

In his absence, Strickland achieved his purpose of changing into the primary Black AEW world champion when he defeated Samoa Joe at Dynasty. His transition right into a bona fide principal eventer has made him extra seen than ever and given him the stage to ship his greatest work to this point.

It is unbelievable to see how seamlessly Will Ospreay acclimated himself to the AEW’s weekly programming and blossomed right into a implausible tv wrestler.

His run with the corporate is off to a promising begin as he continues to show he is not only a gifted in-ring performer. Quite the opposite, the British star has delivered some fiery promos and produced an excellent story with Bryan Danielson.

After all, his top-notch TV and pay-per-view matches have additionally been well worth the worth of admission. Ospreay vs. Danielson from AEW Dynasty will probably land on a number of year-end lists as a match-of-the-year candidate.