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The wrestling scene went through a huge change in 2019 after the birth of AEW. Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks announced that they were starting All Elite Wrestling — a new wrestling promotion. Tony Khan was backing them — someone known for his involvement in the sports industry.
Since the start of AEW, they have hired a huge roster of top wrestlers from around the world. Many of the wrestlers that they hired were former WWE stars. While they may have made their name in WWE, having come to AEW, they have found quite a lot of success.
Some of the wrestlers did not find success in WWE. For others, they might have been big in WWE, but in AEW, their level of success has been far greater.
In this article, let's take a look at five former WWE Superstars who have found success in AEW.
#5 Jon Moxley held the AEW World Heavyweight Championship
Jon Moxley, also known as Dean Ambrose, was part of one of WWE's biggest factions of all time. When The Shield debuted in WWE, they shook up the entire roster. Each of the stars looked like a future top-tier wrestler individually.
When the team eventually broke up, that's exactly what happened. Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Jon Moxley found their own rhythms. While Rollins was the perfect heel, Reigns was the babyface who had to overcome the odds stacked against him.
Meanwhile, Jon Moxley found himself in an unhinged comedic gimmick. Moxley was undoubtedly good at this, but he was better at being a chaotic anti-authoritarian wrestler. Unfortunately, WWE never booked him that way, despite fans clamoring for it. He had several title runs but was nowhere close to being as big as he could have been.
Ultimately, after a failed heel turn, Moxley had enough and decided to leave the company. He let his contract expire and then showed up at AEW's Double or Nothing pay-per-view.
From that first appearance, AEW booked him as a hardcore wrestler who could do whatever he wanted. Not only that, but soon enough, he won the AEW World Heavyweight Championship. Moxley's run at AEW has been incredible so far. He is one of the company's biggest stars and will be an important part of their future.
#4 Lance Archer has been a dominant force in AEW
Lance Archer is probably one of the fiercest wrestlers on AEW's roster at the moment. Alongside Jake Roberts, Archer does not have a weakness at this point. Roberts speaks on the mic for him, while Archer does the wrestling.
Since coming to AEW, Archer has been strongly booked. Although he lost his first feud, he has more than made up for it with his recent appearances.
So far, Archer has not had the defining feud that will make him the top star in the company, but he has come close. Impressive with his in-ring athleticism despite his height and size, Archer could become the top name in the near future.
What many people do not know is that before Archer went to NJPW and AEW, he was in WWE in 2009. He was part of WWE's ECW in 2009 before going to FCW when ECW wrapped up. He didn't manage to stand out and was consequently released.
Currently, it appears that Archer has Sting in his sights. Over the next few weeks, his possible feud against Sting will determine the sort of run he has in AEW.
#3 Chris Jericho was the first-ever AEW World Heavyweight Champion
Chris Jericho was the first-ever AEW World Heavyweight Champion. The legendary wrestler replicated his success in WWE as soon as he became All Elite
Jericho was the first major signing announced by AEW and was seen as a declaration of intent.
Over the past two decades, Jericho was one of the most popular WWE stars. Throughout his time wrestling in the company, he found a lot of success, holding multiple Intercontinental titles, as well as world championships. When Jericho announced that he was wrestling Kenny Omega at the Wrestle Kingdom event for NJPW, it was a shock for everyone. The following year, his signing with AEW delivered an even bigger shock to the wrestling world.
Since then, he has been dominant along with his Inner Circle faction. Currently, he is in the middle of a feud with MJF and his newly founded faction — The Pinnacle.
As a veteran wrestler, Chris Jericho helped establish the importance of the AEW World Heavyweight Championship. He has also helped build younger stars as bigger prospects for the company.
#2 FTR won the AEW Tag Team Championships
FTR, formerly known as The Revival, were never really happy during their time on the WWE main roster. That has not been the case in AEW.
After finding enormous success as a tag team in WWE NXT, their main roster run was dampened by injuries and poor booking decisions.
They didn't let that hold them back and got the release they were looking for, signing with AEW after their WWE contract expired. Soon enough, they won the AEW Tag Team Championships.
Since then, Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood have dominated the tag team proceedings in the company. While they lost the titles to The Young Bucks, they have been consistently dominant. Currently, they are a part of MJF's new faction — The Pinnacle.
The addition of FTR has been extremely important for AEW. Since the start of the promotion, the lax rules in tag team matches have been seen by fans as something of an issue.
So far, FTR have been fastidious about the importance of the rules being followed, and the two of them have seemingly influenced the entire division to do better.
#1 Cody Rhodes is the true face of AEW
Cody Rhodes is the face of AEW. Coming off as one of the biggest faces in the company, Rhodes has made it big in the company.
As one of the Executive Vice Presidents, Cody Rhodes has a lot of responsibility that he has to fulfill in AEW. Not only has he been very active behind the scenes, but on-screen, Cody has been ever-present. His matches have been some of the best, week in and week out.
Long before AEW, Cody Rhodes was a part of WWE. He was in Legacy, Randy Orton's faction, and while he was successful, he didn't find the same level of success after the faction broke up. For a while, he had a few gimmicks that worked, but the booking was inconsistent. He then became Stardust, a gimmick that he disliked.
Eventually, he left the company and found his luck changed in the independent scene, becoming a part of The Bullet Club and later, The Elite.
Founding AEW, he has stayed away from the World Championship scene, sticking to the clause of a match that he lost. He has helped put over multiple younger stars and is currently still possibly the biggest name associated with AEW, despite signing multiple legends.
