Xavier Woods and 8 WWE, AEW Stars Currently Lost in the Shuffle

Even with the talent depth WWE and All Elite Wrestling currently boast, more and more names continue to be added to the ever-expanding rosters.

Not everyone can be prominently featured, so certain stars getting lost in the shuffle is an unavoidable issue. However, that isn't to say both companies can't do a better job of utilizing those they have available.

There is an ample amount of television time to go around between Raw, SmackDown, Dynamite, Rampage and now Collision, and thus it's entirely possible for more people to be better showcased.

The recent WWE draft should give several Superstars the chance to start anew. The same can be said about AEW Collision, which is expected to be treated with the same level of importance as Dynamite.

Xavier Woods is a prime example of someone who would benefit from more direction after floundering for so long.

The following names find themselves in a similar spot and should be the next recipients of some creative attention.

Xavier Woods

The New Day will go down as one of the greatest groups in WWE history for their long list of accolades alone, but Xavier Woods is still criminally underrated as a singles star.

In the decade he has spent on the main roster, he has challenged for singles gold only twice: once in a John Cena United States Championship open challenge in 2015 and against Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship in April.

Otherwise, Woods has been relegated to the tag team ranks for a majority of his run. Winning King of the Ring in 2021 seemed to indicate a singles push was in the works, but the character was cut short upon his return from injury a few months later.

Big E and Kofi Kingston being sidelined with injuries of their own right now should force WWE to do more with Woods, who is incredibly over with the audience. He took Gunther to the limit and has had back-to-back matches on Raw with Dominik Mysterio, but it's clear he's in a holding pattern until at least one of his New Day partners is cleared to compete.

Woods is not only exceptionally skilled in the ring, but he can also talk and connect with the crowd like few others on the active roster. He deserves a spotlight of his own, specifically a run with one of the two midcard championships.

Powerhouse Hobbs

There's no excuse for how poorly booked Powerhouse Hobbs has been since breaking out on his own just under a year ago.

The 32-year-old largely disappeared from AEW programming following his feud with Ricky Starks last summer before resurfacing briefly in the TNT Championship picture at the end of the year.

Hobbs was again directionless until winning the Face of the Revolution ladder match in early March followed by the TNT title itself a week later. Unfortunately, his reign was a complete afterthought and was ended rather abruptly by Wardlow.

His alliance with QT Marshall has been far more of a hindrance than a help as he has barely been seen since losing the title. It's time for a hard reset with Hobbs to get him back on the right track toward superstardom.

However, the fact that the former Team Taz member was among those featured on the newly released poster for the premiere of AEW Collision appears to indicate he'll have a more important role on that show than he has had on Dynamite up to this point.

Karrion Kross

Karrion Kross returned to WWE alongside Scarlett last year with plenty of promise, but it hasn't panned out for him so far.

It was wise to put him in a program with Drew McIntyre from the get-go, but the problem was the lack of meaningful follow-up. He spun his wheels in random rivalries with Madcap Moss, Rey Mysterio and Shinsuke Nakamura without benefiting much from any of them.

A move to Raw may have helped him work his way up the ladder without being limited by the Roman Reigns ceiling on SmackDown.

On the bright side, there are a plethora of popular babyfaces for him to match up against on the blue brand including Edge, Bobby Lashley and AJ Styles.

The Herald of Doomsday cuts captivating promos and has an excellent act with Scarlett, but his matches aren't anything special and he hasn't scored many meaningful wins.

In order to be taken seriously by fans, Kross needs to be established as a force to be reckoned with.

Swerve Strickland

For someone who didn't make much of a splash immediately upon arriving in AEW in March 2022, Swerve Strickland has exceeded all expectations and then some.

His team with Keith Lee last summer was better than it had any right to be, and his subsequent heel turn was excellently executed. But that was nearly six months ago, and AEW has had nothing of note for him to do since then.

He and Lee still find themselves at odds for some reason, for weeks on Rampage. The best thing AEW can do with Strickland at this point is to blow off their rivalry so he can move on to bigger and better things, namely championship gold.

The AEW TNT title has proved to be more of a curse than anything, so perhaps a run as international champion could be in his future. He has a great thing going as the leader of The Mogul Embassy but isn't on television nearly enough for fans to know that.

Strickland has the potential to be competing for the AEW World Championship by this time next year with the proper push and shouldn't be stuck in the same storyline forever.

Tegan Nox

Tegan Nox has flown completely under the radar since returning to WWE in December and has had her talents criminally wasted in the process.

Shortly after signing with the company in 2017, the Welsh wrestler was touted as the future of the women's division, but injuries kept her from competing in and winning the Mae Young Classic both that year and in 2018.

The 28-year-old had a nice run for herself in NXT once she returned to action but was called up with no plan in place in 2021 before being unceremoniously released. Triple H bringing her back last year appeared to be a sign he intended to right that wrong, but she was lost in the shuffle on SmackDown and now on Raw.

The women's division on the whole needs some serious rehabbing due to how a majority of them have been booked this past year, but the misuse of Nox in particular has been especially egregious. To not even be given a chance to show what she can do has been the most disappointing part.

There's no reason why she can't be a regular on Raw right now and then chase Rhea Ripley's gold (only after racking up some wins and giving fans a reason to rally behind her, that is).

Miro

Of the near-three years Miro has been in AEW, he has only appeared on TV for half of that time.

The 37-year-old was utilized just fine for the first year of his run, going from a midcard tag team with Kip Sabian to a dominant reign as TNT champion. He took time off once it ended for a variety of reasons but was never back for more than a month or two before fading off into obscurity again.

Regardless of the reason behind his absence from television, to not have him involved in anything substantial is baffling. Miro proved while TNT champ that he can easily be main event material and is a viable threat to any top talent on the roster.

It hasn't helped that AEW has signed countless stars since then, making the Bulgaria-born star much less of a priority.

Similar to Powerhouse Hobbs, The Redeemer was also spotted on the Collision poster released this week. He could, and should, be given more creative attention on that show and pick up where he left off by destroying everyone put in his path.

LA Knight

WWE hasn't quite cracked the code with LA Knight yet if his first year on the main roster has been anything to go off of.

Calling him from up from NXT as a manager for Maximum Male Models was bad enough, but it's not as if he's been booked much better since being repackaged as LA Knight.

The feud with Bray Wyatt was a wise way to get The Megastar going, but beyond that, he's been horribly handled.

From being left off WrestleMania 39 in Los Angeles to losing a majority of his matches, he hasn't been able to catch a break. Amazingly, he's gotten over with the audience in spite of that and management still hasn't capitalized on his surging popularity.

It's possible his apparent partnership with Rick Boogs will only be temporary, but why waste time in the tag team scene when he could be pushed as a serious singles threat right now?

Knight would be the perfect candidate to capture the men's Money in the Bank briefcase this year, provided WWE views him as the main event-level talent he's destined to be and not as the aimless midcarder he's been booked as.

Jay White

Jay White burst onto the AEW scene in early April with a ton of buzz, but he already feels like just another member of the roster.

That would be perfectly acceptable for almost anyone else but not a talent the caliber of Switchblade.

After the immense amount of success he had in New Japan Pro-Wrestling and everything he achieved, he should have been a prominent player from the moment he debuted.

His return hasn't been completely underwhelming, though. He's at least had direction in the form of a feud with Ricky Starks and formed an alliance with old Bullet Club stablemate Juice Robinson, but both of those things feel beneath a star of his status.

It's way too soon to call his run a "bust" by any means and it's likely he'll ascend the ranks over time. He should be in the mix for the AEW World Championship before long, consistently appearing on Dynamite or Collision instead of once every three weeks.

White been overshadowed en route to Double or Nothing due to everyone else already being busy in other angles but should be in line for something more significant once it's over.

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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.