5 Current AEW stars WWE dropped the ball with

AEW has a number of current stars who previously plied their trade in the WWE. For one reason or another, their careers in the sports entertainment juggernaut didn't quite pan out the way they hoped for.

Whether it was stop-start pushes or bad booking, these wrestlers couldn't fulfil their potential in WWE. But thankfully, they've landed on their feet and found success elsewhere, particularly in AEW.

Here are five current AEW stars WWE "dropped the ball" with:

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#5. Former TNT Champion Miro

Miro was positioned as the next big thing in WWE as the Bulgarian Brute Rusev. Together with his real-life wife, Lana, as manager, he made an impressive debut on the main roster and even won the United States Championship within his first year.

With his intimidating size and foreign heel gimmick, he was immediately pushed to be a major star, culminating in a marquee title defence at WrestleMania 31, complete with tank and all.

But once Rusev lost to John Cena, everything went downhill for the powerhouse, and he eventually got lost in the shuffle. Towards the end of 2017, "Rusev Day" chants started gaining immense popularity after he formed an alliance with Aiden English. But the company never got behind them the way it should have. WWE could've done more with him overall.

During an interview with WrestlingNews.co, English spoke openly about Rusev Day and how it never reached the heights everyone wanted it to. It's clear that the WWE Universe thought the same way too.

Thankfully, Miro bounced back in AEW when he joined the company in 2020. He would then go on a dominant run as TNT Champion, striking gold with his Redeemer gimmick. At the time of writing, Miro's last match for AEW came at the All Out pay-per-view in September 2022, where he teamed up with Sting and Darby Allin to defeat the House of Black.

He is now primed to return and feature as one of the main stars on AEW's brand new show Collision.

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#4. Andrade

Andrade 'Cien' Almas was supposed to be the next big Latino star in WWE. He had an amazing run in NXT as the NXT Champion, putting on classics against the likes of Johnny Gargano and Aleister Black.

But it was clear once he was on the main roster that Vince McMahon wasn't as big of a fan of him as Triple H was. Sure, he won the US title and had a decent feud with Rey Mysterio. Beyond that, it was pretty underwhelming.

It's no surprise that Andrade would leave WWE and make the jump to AEW in 2021. The Mexican wrestler was treated as a big star almost immediately, being paired with Vickie Guerrero and even starting a feud with former AEW EVP Cody Rhodes.

Since then, he has been a regular performer on television and has even wrestled back in Mexico to great success. Unfortunately, his momentum was halted when El Idolo recently went under the knife to repair a torn pec, the same injury that put Cody Rhodes on the shelf in 2022. However, he is set to return to All Elite Wrestling very soon and has been announced to appear on the debut show of Collision.

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#3. AEW Trios Champion Malakai Black

Speaking of former NXT Champions, Malakai Black is another wrestler who failed to make the transition to the WWE main roster despite his success on the black and gold brand.

The Dutchman had the mystique, cool appearance, and striking abilities to be a major player either on RAW or SmackDown. But for some reason or another, Vince McMahon couldn't get behind the talent.

This led him to be largely ignored and misused. The only memorable thing he did was have a random programme with Buddy Murphy on RAW that culminated in an excellent match at TLC 2019. It's such a shame that the former Aleister Black never even had a midcard title run, at the very least.

Thankfully, Malakai managed to revive his career in AEW and was immediately treated like a huge deal. Again, it was Cody Rhodes that he targeted first, which led to an outstanding trilogy of matches throughout the summer of 2021.

He would soon start his own faction, the House of Black, joining forces with Brody King and former rival Buddy Matthews. They have run roughshod over All Elite Wrestling for over a year, and since the inclusion of Julia Hart, they have elevated to another level by winning the Trios Championship from The Elite back in Revolution 2023.

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#2. ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli

Cesaro's decade-long run in WWE was a case of what could have been. The Swiss Superman is an incredible athlete with jaw-dropping strength. His talents inside the ring alone should have earned him a world title run at least once in his WWE career.

Unfortunately, he never got that chance despite being pushed early on in his career. Cesaro was the inaugural Andre the Giant Battle Royal winner at WrestleMania 30 and was primed to be a breakout star with Paul Heyman.

But the partnership fizzled out pretty quickly, and he was soon relegated to being a midcard talent at best. Granted, he did have an excellent tag team run with Sheamus as The Bar and even challenged Roman Reigns for the WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania Backlash in 2021. However, it was a disappointing run overall, given the potential he had.

Luckily, Claudio Castagnoli made the transition to All Elite Wrestling at Forbidden Door 2022 and hasn't looked back since. In one year, Claudio is now the most relevant he's ever been, winning the ROH Championship and being part of one of the company's biggest factions, the Blackpool Combat Club.

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#1. Former AEW World Champion Jon Moxley

It's funny to think of Jon Moxley now as someone who didn't fulfil his potential. He is a multiple-time AEW World Champion, one of the company's biggest stars, and the de facto leader of its biggest faction, the BCC.

However, there was a time when Mox was the most underappreciated wrestler in WWE. While the former Dean Ambrose did become WWE Champion during his tenure with the company, it's clear that he should have been a much bigger star than he was ever treated as.

Ambrose was easily one of the most popular guys on the roster, stemming from his days in The Shield to his solo run afterwards. He had the potential to be the number one babyface for WWE, thanks to his connection with the audience. Rewind back to 2016, and you could see how badly the fans wanted him to challenge Roman Reigns in the main event of WrestleMania 32 instead of Triple H.

Unfortunately, he was passed over and held back. It's no surprise that Mox would eventually grow tired of the poor treatment and leave the company in 2019. It's clear that WWE dropped the ball in a big way by not promoting him more and creating what could have been a generational babyface.