The inception of AEW in 2019 as a direct competitor to the sports entertainment juggernaut, that is WWE, was a major change in the world of professional wrestling. The presence of All Elite became a proving ground for many talented in-ring competitors to thrive as top wrestlers.However, for many other stars, it became a catalyst and direct path to join World Wrestling Entertainment, which many considered to be the biggest league. Similarly, another handful of stars saw AEW as a place to revive their careers and return to WWE.While some of those names got that opportunity, things did not turn out as they had envisioned. Here are the top four former AEW stars who have had lackluster runs after returning or debuting in the Stamford-based promotion.#4. RusevRusev rose to prominence in the pro wrestling world for his tenure in WWE. He was presented as a rogue, a Bulgarian brute, who was a dominating force in the company. He replicated a similar style during his run in AEW; however, it was nowhere close to the success he experienced in WWE.Following a lengthy absence, he was eventually released from his AEW contract, paving the way for his return to WWE in April 2025. While it was expected that Rusev would have a top spot on their shows, he has only been involved in squash programs against mid-card talents.Even so, WWE did not build a proper program for him against Sheamus, which has tremendous potential to cement his status as a marquee star, making him seem irrelevant on their television programming so far.#3. Aleister BlackAleister Black has long been spoken of as a top project of current WWE CCO Triple H. This was a huge reason for The Game to bring the Black Mass back to WWE months ago. Despite being his guy since his NXT days, Black has failed to make any impact on SmackDown so far.WWE even missed an opportunity to give him a push with a feud against veteran R-Truth. In all fairness, Aleister Black has been nothing but a popcorn break attraction, with no signs of him ascending to the next level visible on WWE TV yet.#2. Rey FenixWhile his real-life brother, Penta, has been making significant waves as a singles star on Monday Night RAW, the same cannot be said for Rey Fenix on SmackDown, who debuted this year in WWE.He did not make much of an impact as a solo competitor on the blue brand, leading to WWE pairing him up in a tag team and being a mid-card attraction, similar to his position in AEW. While he is seemingly poised for a good tag run in the near future, that wasn't what many fans wished for when he made the move to the Stamford-based company.#1. Andrade El IdoloAndrade El Idolo had a resurgence during his run in AEW, which led to Triple H bringing him back to WWE in 2024. He had a great start to his second coming in the global juggernaut with a compelling feud against rising star, Carmelo Hayes.Following that, fans hoped that El Idolo would get a major push as a singles competitor. Instead, he was off television for a while and relegated to multi-man and tag team matches.WWE has seemingly failed to harness the potential of the Mexican star and has relegated a top-tier talent to a mid-card attraction again.