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AEW burst onto the wrestling scene with a promise to spotlight fresh talent, like MJF, Sammy Guevara, and Jungle Boy Jack Perry to name a few, but is the company failing its young wrestlers? Let us understand AEW’s rising stars' challenges, from questionable booking decisions to lack of consistent pushes. Are the young talents being overshadowed by veteran signings and stunted in their development?
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#tonykhan #mjf #darbyallin #wardlow #aew #wrestling #sportskeedawrestling
Play now to find out - https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe/brainbuster-wwe-player-guessing-game
AEW burst onto the wrestling scene with a promise to spotlight fresh talent, like MJF, Sammy Guevara, and Jungle Boy Jack Perry to name a few, but is the company failing its young wrestlers? Let us understand AEW’s rising stars' challenges, from questionable booking decisions to lack of consistent pushes. Are the young talents being overshadowed by veteran signings and stunted in their development?
You can also visit our site: https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe
#tonykhan #mjf #darbyallin #wardlow #aew #wrestling #sportskeedawrestling
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SportsTranscript
00:00Is All Elite Wrestling facing a challenge with its younger talent?
00:03Consider this.
00:04When the company launched in 2019, one of its main goals was to build new stars, make
00:09stars out of those indie darlings we were hearing about, and to some extent, they have
00:14succeeded in doing that.
00:16Maxwell Jacob Freeman stands out as a prime example of it.
00:19AEW is a game changer for professional wrestling.
00:22Some of you are screaming in the comments, but it's an absolute truth.
00:25At just 28 years old, Maxwell Jacob Freeman has become one of the most recognized names
00:29in professional wrestling and widely is regarded as the face of AEW.
00:33But what about wrestlers like the talented and charismatic Ricky Starks, the absolute
00:38powerhouse of Powerhouse Hobbs, and even the daredevil himself, Darby Allin?
00:44What about the bad boy Sammy Guevara?
00:46Despite consistently delivering strong performances, inconsistent creative booking and approaching
00:51to how they're presented may have presented them from truly standing out as top-tier talents.
00:57So what's going on?
00:58What is the problem with younger talent in AEW maybe not getting the platform they should?
01:04Let's get into it.
01:05I'm Kevin Kellum.
01:06This is Sportskeeda Wrestling.
01:08Let's look at the issue with younger wrestlers in AEW.
01:12Stand back.
01:13There's a new wrestling quiz coming through.
01:16Check out Brain Buster, the daily quiz that tests your WWE knowledge with winning strengths,
01:22stats, and more.
01:23It's time to see if you're up for the challenge.
01:27First let's talk about how it all started.
01:28When AEW launched in 2019, it brought a wave of young, ambitious, talked-about talent including
01:34Maxwell Jacob Freeman, as you mentioned, Allin, Sammy Guevara, Jungle Jack Perry, who were
01:38dubbed the Four Pillars of AEW.
01:41They weren't alone.
01:42Undercard wrestlers like Kiff Sabian, Joey Janela, Brian Pillman Jr., tag teams like
01:46Private Party, Santana, and Ortiz who jumped over from Impact Wrestling.
01:51They were all under the age of 30 or around that age and were also viewed as future big-name
01:55talents in the company.
01:57As we're picking up for this younger batch of talent, MJF quickly became the highlight
02:01of the show, infuted with his mentor Cody Rhodes, and even beat him at the Revolution
02:05Pay-Per-View event in 2020 just a few months after making his televised debut on AEW.
02:12Darby Allin consistently delivered high-profile matches that left fans with their jaws on
02:17the floor and took legends like Chris Jericho, Cody Rhodes to their limits.
02:21He earned a loyal fan base for simply just doing stuff that nobody else was doing in
02:26televised wrestling.
02:27On the other hand, Sammy Guevara aligned himself with Jericho and became a brash young heel
02:32who was drawing some comparisons to 2003 Randy Orton in the Evolution Group.
02:37Then there's Jungle Boy Jack Perry, a lovable underdog who would do anything to prove his
02:42worth and earn fans' respect.
02:45Yeah, long before the whole Real Glass thing at AEW All In, Perry was a clean-cut good
02:51guy with that long, curly mane that I know some women really appreciated seeing on television
02:57around that time.
02:58Not to mention the women's division, which had a roster of young, talented people like
03:03Ryo Hikirishita and Britt Baker DMD.
03:07A year passed and the COVID pandemic hit.
03:10Obviously, that's going to affect everything in entertainment, and yes, it affected AEW.
03:15Around this time, AEW brought a few more young wrestlers to the fold, with Wardlow, Ricky
03:19Starks, Hobbs, Hook, Max Castern, Anthony Bowens of the Acclaimed, Top Flight, Jamie
03:25Hayter, you name it.
03:26They were all making their way down to Jacksonville and performing at Daily's Place during those
03:30tough times.
03:31Meanwhile, the company was bringing in established names over from WWE in 2021.
03:36Bryan Danielson, frustrated with his creative outlook, made the leap.
03:40CM Punk came out of retirement and reintroduced himself to the wrestling world and sewed out
03:45arenas doing it.
03:46Adam Cole made the leap over from NXT.
03:49Christian Cage opted to not stay with WWE and give it a go in AEW.
03:54Malakai Black, Miro, and more, leading to an increasingly crowded roster of names that
03:59had value, names that fans in WWE were already aware of.
04:03As a result, it became inevitable that maybe some wrestlers could just get naturally lost
04:08in the shuffle.
04:09And we'll keep coming back to that lost in the shuffle thing.
04:12And that's exactly what happened.
04:13Many wrestlers were simply either let go, let their contracts dissolve out, and just
04:18became people who you didn't know were even still with AEW.
04:23Despite the crowded roster, AEW continued to feature the four pillars, those four prominent
04:29young names we mentioned earlier.
04:30By 2022, MJF had solidified himself as a top villain in the business, engaging in high-profile
04:37feuds with Jericho and a really great one with Punk, probably the best stuff he did
04:41in AEW.
04:42With fans eagerly anticipating his eventual world championship reign at Full Gear 2022.
04:49Skateboarding bad boy Darby Allin captured the TNT championship multiple times and enjoyed
04:54a memorable run alongside the returning legend Sting.
04:58Both of them have face paint, but it's a whole lot more serious than that.
05:02Sammy Guevara also claimed the TNT championship several times, while Jack Perry established
05:06himself as a credible competitor during his intense feud with Christian, who was trying
05:11to become his father figure.
05:13Let's talk about Ricky Starks.
05:14For example, in late 2022, he was on the cusp of doing some big things.
05:20He earned a title shot at the AEW World Championship against MJF, just briefly after MJF captured
05:27it from Jon Moxley.
05:29And Starks did this by winning a tournament, stacking up multiple wins to get that opportunity.
05:34It was a breakout moment for him, and as he was getting a lot of fan support right at
05:38the right time.
05:40In an episode of Dynamite, he absolutely wrecked MJF on the microphone.
05:45Yes, Starks cooked MJF, one of the best talkers in the business.
05:49This showed everyone that he was ready for the next level.
05:52Of course, Starks wasn't going to beat MJF, but that's really not the point.
05:57This was Max's first title defense, and he had a lot more momentum than Starks did.
06:02But you could see that giving this opportunity to establish himself as a main event player
06:07was meaningful.
06:08And despite being on the losing end to Maxwell Jacob Friedman, Starks certainly felt like
06:13a bigger deal on the other side of the match.
06:16Following this, he feuded with Chris Jericho, yeah, one of the big names in the company.
06:21And he also beat him a few times.
06:23You beat Jericho, that means something.
06:26However, despite his growing popularity, AEW didn't capitalize on the Ricky Starks momentum
06:32movement.
06:33Instead of being booked in significant feuds following the Jericho situation, he abruptly
06:38turned into a heel without much contextual explanation.
06:42And it was a twist, as yet, Starks continued to be in the mix with more established names,
06:47like the best technical wrestler in the world, Bryan Danielson.
06:51And the circumstances were going to add a lot more pressure to him.
06:54Following the very sour backstage news that dominated the wrestling news cycle, with CM
07:00Punk being unceremoniously fired after the AEW All-In record-breaking attendance, they
07:07needed a big match to steal the conversation back for AEW at the All-Out event in CM Punk's
07:14hometown.
07:15And that match looked like it was going to be Ricky Starks vs. Bryan Danielson in a strap
07:20match.
07:21Yet again, Starks would not be the winner against Bryan Danielson, but it didn't really
07:25matter.
07:26That strap match really stole the show, earning 5 stars from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter
07:31and getting a 9.2 rating on Cage Match.
07:35This was a show-stealing moment, not just for Danielson, but for the young upstart Ricky
07:40Starks.
07:41It was a certified show-stealer, but that type of momentum wouldn't be sustained for
07:47Ricky Starks as a single star.
07:50No, the decision was made to pair him with Big Bill, yet another former WWE name.
07:55They would have success capturing the AEW Tag Team Championships, keeping his presence
08:00on AEW television, but limiting it in a different way.
08:03They would eventually lose those titles in February of 2024.
08:07Starks coming out of 2023 was bound for bigger things in 2024, right?
08:11Well, his last televised match for the company was on Collision, in a losing effort in a
08:16Tag Team Challenger tournament in March.
08:19Since then, he has shot down shallow speculation while he's been off television from some
08:24fans who claim he was benched by the company for shooting down creative ideas.
08:29He simply tweeted out, enough is enough, usually I don't speak on this, but it's
08:33tired, I never turn down anything ever, just stop.
08:37Yet the speculation about Ricky Starks leaving AEW continues to mount while he's been off
08:42TV for months now.
08:44Coming to Powerhouse Hobbs, his story within AEW is an unfortunate one as well.
08:48His split from Team Taz saw Hobbs emerge as a dominant villain, seeking to wreak havoc.
08:54He defeated his former tag team partner, Ricky Starks, who we just talked about, and had
08:58a feud with Wardlow, during which they traded the TNT Championship.
09:02Hobbs then aligned himself with the Don Callis family and scored a victory over Chris Jericho,
09:07the gatekeeping guy who really likes to open the gate for younger talent.
09:11However, beyond that, he hasn't had a significant impact on TV for quite some time due to being
09:16injured during a match with Jon Moxley, one of the top names in the company, for the IWGP
09:22World Heavyweight Championship, and fans are eagerly awaiting his return.
09:26Let's address AEW's possible biggest misstep, and we mean a big man, Wardlow.
09:32When Wardlow broke away from Maxwell Jacob Freeman and squashed him at Double or Nothing
09:372022, fans were convinced he was destined to be the next big star in the company.
09:43That moment, and everything it built to, was special, despite all of the backstage issues
09:48with MGF.
09:49It was all about Wardlow, and he was bound for some huge things.
09:53He exuded the true superstar energy.
09:56Think about Dave Bautista in 05, that's what Wardlow had going on here.
10:01The big man would win the TNT Championship, and this should have been a launching pad
10:05for his rise to the top.
10:07However, this guy, who literally only had a handful of matches under his belt, and reportedly
10:12opted to go with AEW instead of WWE at one point in his early career, was now on a dominant
10:19reign, and AEW had him lose the title to the likes of Hobbs and Samoa Joe before he
10:24won it back, which ultimately lowered his momentum.
10:28This back and forth didn't do him any favors, and after losing the title to Luchasaurus,
10:33or religious Christian who walks around with it, Wardlow vanished from the spotlight.
10:40What could have saved him was a heel turn, which happened when he returned to All Elite
10:44Wrestling in 2023.
10:46At the time, MJF was the AEW World Champion, and he had turned into a babyface.
10:52This was a perfect time for Wardlow to kind of take that role and go back for the guy
10:57who, you know, did him wrong in the past, and AEW had to do was put him in the position
11:03to dethrone Maxwell Jacob Friedman.
11:05First, it would have made sense considering their history, second, you don't have a lot
11:09of chances with wrestlers like Wardlow.
11:11You have to play on that size and the momentum and sensation around him.
11:15See, what happened with Braun Strowman in WWE, it's kind of what was happening with
11:19Wardlow here.
11:20AEW simply didn't capitalize on Wardlow when he was at his hottest.
11:24Wardlow would be utilized as a member of Adam Cole's Undisputed Kingdom faction, who would
11:29cost Maxwell Jacob Friedman the title, so there's something there.
11:32Yeah, it was an opportunity for him, but it really just went nowhere so fast, and we haven't
11:38seen him on TV very often since.
11:42It's just sad that a talent is special, a guy who turns your head when you see him walk
11:47through an airport like Wardlow struggles to get TV time.
11:51Darby Allin's story is quite different, yes, let's deviate from the negativity.
11:55The skull-faced skateboarding hardcore badass has been one of AEW's core players since the
12:00company launched, and nearly every big match he's been given, he delivers some big moments.
12:07He's always proved his worth to the company as delivered those high-profile moments.
12:11His style has allowed him to carve out a niche as one of AEW's most exciting and unpredictable
12:17wrestlers.
12:18His matches are always must-watch events, and sometimes they are certainly set to steal
12:23the show, filled with moments that you're not going to see in many other big wrestling
12:27promotions.
12:28Breaking glass, kicking ass, and getting to be the man who tagged teams with the icon
12:33Sting on his final run in pro wrestling, no one else gets to say that except Darby Allin.
12:39Allin has gotten the right handle from AEW, who have done a lot to make him feel like
12:44a special, unique performer in the ranks.
12:47Will he cough and drop his way into an AEW World Title championship in the future?
12:51It certainly seems like it's a possibility.
12:53Sammy Guevara is easily one of the most divisive figures in AEW.
12:57His characterization in the company has seen him jump from good guy to bad guy, but his
13:02issues outside of the ring have also interfered with his work inside of the ring.
13:06Guevara started out as one of the core members of AEW when the company debuted, and was actually
13:12in the first televised match against Cody Rhodes on the first episode of Dynamite, a
13:17clear sign that AEW saw a lot in him as a future talent.
13:21He would join the Inner Circle faction with Chris Jericho, and get to tag team with him,
13:26and get really highlighted within that group.
13:28He went on to win the TNT Championship, but reported issues backstage continue to be something
13:34that would taint all of his success.
13:36Inappropriate comments he made about WWE Superstar, now known as Mercedes Monet in AEW, resurfaced
13:42from a podcast interview, and that didn't really help out his reputation much.
13:46He got involved in backstage, real-life altercations with Andrade and Eddie Kingston, and even
13:52got suspended.
13:53Then, there was issues where he was featured in a no-DQ match with the legendary Jeff Hardy
13:58on AEW Television, where Guevara reportedly landed on Hardy's face at a 45-degree angle,
14:06breaking Hardy's nose and putting him on the shelf.
14:10These were his own hiccups, but the booking and featuring of Guevara has been something
14:14that's been questionable.
14:15One week, he's aligned with Chris Jericho, the next he was feuding with him.
14:19Then, let's not forget that he joined the Don Callis family, though it's easy to forget,
14:24since he just left weeks after joining the group.
14:27Yeah, so the suspensions, the stop-and-go booking, well, Sammy Guevara is back in the
14:32mix on Ring of Honor, where he is one half of the tag team champions with Dustin Rhodes.
14:37Now, coming to Jungle Jack Perry, since he came back from a long suspension after the
14:42infamous All In 2023 incident, his booking has been on point.
14:48But ever since AEW released that footage of CM Punk, where, you know, Punk choked him
14:53out and there was a scuffle, many fans have seen him as someone who's maybe riding that
14:58one incident as his one hit.
15:00But still, the heat is there, and now he's positioned to have a huge title match with
15:05Bryan Danielson at the upcoming All Out event while we record this.
15:09Now, if you've watched this video this long and you're expecting some baseless potshots
15:14at AEW, well, you're not going to get them.
15:17The fact of the matter is, All Elite has a tremendous platform that is the biggest
15:23non-WWE televised wrestling company for a wrestling talent to sign with right now, where
15:30young talent have been seen by more eyes in AEW than maybe they were before AEW.
15:36With a collective reorganization, consistency, and avoiding those unfortunate pop-up circumstances
15:42like injuries, AEW has an undeniably gifted crop of talent under the age of 35 to build
15:48the company around in the future.
15:50Yet when free agency names like the recently acquired from WWE Ricochet come over, when
15:56Tokyo Dome headliners like Okada come over from New Japan, when current top names in
16:01AEW sustain their roles, how can these younger talents fight their way up the ranks with
16:06such fierce internal competition?
16:09Yeah, that's a crazy question to answer, and we don't have those answers right now.
16:14Maybe you do?
16:15Let us know in the comments below.