Wrestlers Getting Screwed By Poor Booking in WWE and AEW
Even in the new year, several stars in WWE and AEW aren't being afforded the opportunities they are arguably owed.
Several factors are to blame, but above all else, both promotions boast incredibly deep rosters right now. As a result, it's virtually impossible for everyone to get their just due.
For WWE, the road to WrestleMania is officially underway and many top talents are bound to be overlooked and underutilized in favor of the bigger names. Meanwhile, AEW doesn't have enough television time to feature its full roster in a meaningful manner.
However, the poor booking of certain competitors in recent months has been inexcusable, and spotlighting them more should become a top priority for WWE and AEW going forward.
The following six wrestlers can be valuable assets with plenty to offer and shouldn't be subjected to mediocrity any longer.
AJ Styles
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Although AJ Styles is currently out injured with a broken ankle and may be sidelined for the remainder of the road to WrestleMania, it wasn't as if he was being prominently featured on WWE TV prior to taking time off.
The O.C. reuniting back in October was expected to lead to Styles receiving a renewed singles push after being directionless for a majority of the year. He was able to beat Finn Bálor at Survivor Series, but there was hardly any follow-up.
The Phenomenal One continued to tag with Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows in random matchups before going down with an injury. Perhaps his absence will prove to be a blessing in disguise as it will allow him to return feeling fresh in the eyes of the fans again.
It's been nearly five years since he was last WWE champion, which is almost unbelievable. Worse yet, he hasn't been a fixture in the main-event scene since then despite still being one of WWE's very best all-around performers.
The company would be wise to make the most of Styles while he's wrestling full-time instead of relegating him to subpar storylines in the mid-card.
Andrade El Idolo
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Andrade El Idolo is another individual who hasn't been on TV in a few months due to reportedly being suspended by AEW as well as injured, but his booking in AEW has been questionable from the moment he arrived.
In the two years Andrade has spent in the promotion, we have yet to see what he's truly capable of. He's had glimmers of greatness, particularly in his matches against Pac and Cody Rhodes, but he's primarily been utilized as a stepping stone as opposed to a main event player.
It hasn't helped that he's already gone through three managers in Vickie Guerrero, Chavo Guerrero and Jose the Assistant. He hasn't won enough meaningful matches in order to be taken seriously and was a non-factor throughout 2022.
A run with the AEW TNT Championship upon his return would serve him well, but that's assuming he'll be back. It's just as likely his contract will expire and he'll have his sights set on reuniting with his wife Charlotte Flair in WWE.
For all the fanfare Andrade had upon signing with AEW, his run can't be considered anything less than a disappointment.
Tegan Nox
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Tegan Nox likely would have been in a better spot on SmackDown by now had Triple H not already rehired and repackaged several other women who fans are still in the process of getting familiar with.
She was gone from WWE for a little over a year after originally being released in November 2021. The former NXT standout kept a low-profile before resurfacing on SmackDown, but the lack of introduction for her resulted in her return falling flat.
Nox has been back for two months and has done absolutely nothing of note. She and Liv Morgan unsuccessfully challenged for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship in December, her brief feud with Xia Li was completely forgettable, and she only lasted four minutes in the women's Royal Rumble.
There's plenty of time for WWE to get it right with Nox, but that doesn't change how underwhelming her comeback has been so far. Someone as skilled as she is should not feel like just another woman on the roster, but rather a centerpiece with actual direction.
The blue brand's women's division could use more creative attention, starting with the resurgence of The Girl with the Shiniest Wizard.
'Mr. Mayhem' Wardlow
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AEW fans saw Wardlow return following a month-long absence this past week on Dynamite, debuting a new look and confronting newly-crowned AEW TNT champion Samoa Joe to resume their rivalry.
It's encouraging that he's picking up where he left off, and apparently, it was an injury that kept him sidelined in January, but it's been many months since Wardlow last felt special.
He was at the peak of his popularity heading into Double or Nothing last year, where he wound up beating his ex-boss MJF in a dominant fashion. Unfortunately for Wardlow, the focus was firmly on MJF coming out of the pay-per-view due to his antics behind the scenes, nearly rendering Wardlow's win irrelevant.
The TNT title felt like a logical next step for him, but he wasn't booked to do much with the belt at all. He defended it against the occasional enhancement talent before being beaten for it in a three-way match at Full Gear in November.
Wardlow is a world championship-caliber competitor and can ascend to that level one day, but not without having his credibility built back up first.
Chad Gable
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To call Chad Gable underrated would be cliché considering how virtually everyone is aware at this point just how exceptionally skilled he is. The term "misused" would be more accurate.
Much like Dolph Ziggler, his greatest strength has proven to be his greatest weakness: he excels at making his opponents look better than they are. Sadly, that has earned him a role as the ultimate enhancement talent for the past six months with a handful of tag title reigns sprinkled in there.
His latest run in the tag team division alongside Otis as Alpha Academy has been a blast, but any time he competes in singles competition, he shows why he belongs among the elite higher up the card.
Alpha Academy loses far more often than they win, and serves as stepping stones to everyone else on the Raw roster. Gable is an outstanding athlete and shouldn't be eating losses for the remainder of his career.
A proper singles run eventually would be nice to see, but he's been slotted at a certain level for long enough that fans shouldn't hold their breath about it being a realistic possibility.
Malakai Black
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Malakai Black seemed poised for big things when he made his shocking AEW debut on Dynamite in July 2021 and attacked Cody Rhodes. It was the first night the promotion welcomed a full crowd of fans back into the building since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and the reaction was raucous.
Oddly enough, it was only downhill for him from there.
He didn't emerge from their feud on the winning end, nor did House of Black pan out as well as fans had hoped. Black has terrific chemistry with Brody King and Buddy Matthews, but the group suffered from spinning their wheels for too long and they're quickly falling back into that holding pattern again.
It's clear they're waiting in the wings to challenge The Elite for the AEW World Trios Championship. They could even be the ones who will dethrone them as champs down the road, but they're stuck in limbo for the time being.
What's more egregious is that Black has barely been utilized on his own over the last year. The singles ranks could really use an established heel and Black would be the perfect person to fill that void, provided AEW first realizes what they've been missing out on with him this entire time.
Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.
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