Wrestlers Who Went To AEW And Did Nothing

What's good y'all? It's Bull Ross back at it again with another video. So, we're going to check out 10 WWE wrestlers who went to AEW, but did absolutely nothing. We've seen it a few times where a wrestler from WWE jumps ship, go to AEW. They get used maybe for a little bit and then they don't really get utilized like they should. Or sometimes they get there and it's like they're kind of DOA on arrival. And that's been a thing with Tony Khan. Now, WWE does the same thing, too. Where they'll get somebody new, nice acquisition, and fans are expecting something from them and then they don't really get utilized much or nothing really happens of notice and they just kind of slide down the card, slide right into catering. So, we're going to check out some instances where WWE wrestlers go to AEW and they just really don't do much with them. Appreciate all the love support. Let's get right into it, man. >> Since it's founding in 2019, AEW has marketed itself as where the best wrestle. And it's a fair assessment when you analyze the strong match quality that accompanies the roster. Between founding fathers like Kenny Omega, the Young Bucks and Chris Jericho and modern signings such as Mistico, Andrade and Persephone, it's hard to argue against AEW boasting the greatest roster in the industry history. As was the case when WCW stood on the other side as the alternative company, many names on Tony Khan's payroll have also spent time on WWE's books, often finding that life isn't always more fortunate on the other side. >> Join us now as Wrestle Lamia looks at 10 WWE wrestlers who did nothing in AEW. Be sure to subscribe and hit that notification bell for daily wrestling videos. Number 10, Bobby Fish. >> Oh, no. >> of the Undisputed Era in NXT was swiftly followed by Adam Cole jumping over to AEW at All Out in 2021. A defining moment for the promotion and with Kyle O'Reilly following suit by the year's end, it made logical business sense to bring Bobby Fish in, too. They reunited under the All Elite banner as the Undisputed Elite, a subgroup within the overarching Elite faction, but less than a year after his arrival, Bobby Fish was out the door. He'd come into AEW with an overinflated ego following his WWE release and appeared to view himself as a bigger attraction than Tony Khan did despite his internal status as the third best man from the original Undisputed Era lineup. Uh Fish was axed from AEW days before the 2022 All Out pay-per-view. Having not even served a full year of a tenure under Khan's employment post All Elite Wrestling, the decorated tag teamer claimed that Tony didn't offer enough money. But why would he? Again, Bobby Fish was the third best man from the original Undisputed Era trio. Whatever Tony Khan was paying him, it was probably more than enough. Number nine, Ethan Page. >> kind of crazy. That's When you really think about it, that's actually kind of crazy how Tony Khan, who's notoriously known for throwing out some some money to wrestlers, the fact that he felt like he wasn't getting enough and he was like, "Nah, bro, you need to give me more." And even Tony is like, "Nah, I'm not giving you more." >> [laughter] >> That's That's That's saying something if Tony's not trying to shell out some money to keep you. >> And now that AEW has been operating for seven years, it's becoming increasingly common for wrestlers to swap being All Elite for a pass to the WWE Performance Center rather than the other way around. And of those promotional jumpers, Ethan Page has reaped some of the biggest rewards. AEW tried to position Page in prominent spots including making him a member of MJF's short-lived firm stable, but nothing really clicked. By the time of his exit, he'd been relegated to midcard fodder on the secondary Ring of Honor with his final appearance coming 3 months before his eventual departure. That, it would seem, aided away at Ethan as he blatantly shot on Tony Khan during an interview with Big Gold Belt Media earlier in 2026, claiming that he was begging to be utilized. >> I I was like sitting in catering just begging for work. And I'm at an age in my life where I was like, if I'm not working now, when am I going to be working? So, I think preparation met opportunity and Shawn Michaels ran into me at the perfect time in my life, at the perfect stage of my career, at the perfect maturity level, hunger level, passion level, desperation level, everything that was supposed to happen happened. >> shocking move to NXT though proved career defining for Ethan Page. He captured the NXT Championship within two months of his arrival. He's been platformed as a big time attraction ever since with his current role as the Raw mid-carder reaping rewards in its own way. Number eight, Matt Sydal. All Elite Wrestling has been home to some of the industry's most goose bump inducing debuts as was most recently reaffirmed by the arrival of The New Level the former New Day at All In. Regrettably though, Matt Sydal did not sit alongside them. The former WWE Tag Team Champion made his shock AEW debut as the Joker in the Casino Battle Royal at All Out 2020. His first spot of the match supposed to see him perform his awe-inspiring shooting star press. But with Michael Nakazawa having oiled the ropes, he embarrassingly slipped and fell right to the mat in an undignified heap. That was the storyline reason anyway. In reality, Sydal had just legitimately cocked up. It perfectly set the tone for how his AEW career would pan out. For six years, Sydal has been primarily used to put others over, effectively filling the role of a glorified enhancement talent. Admittedly, surgery on his foot sidelined him for two years, but his return wasn't met with pomp and circumstance. He lost both of his post-match comeback matches. Admittedly, even before he was hardly a headline act in WWE, but he was certainly offered better opportunities than whatever scraps Tony Khan had thrown his way. Number seven, Johnny TV. Like Matt Sydal, Johnny TV the John Morrison of WWE, was also set up to fail in AEW from his first night simply because he wasn't Johnny Gargano. Revealed as a [laughter] well-cut entry in the first Owen Hart Foundation tournament, he was introduced as Johnny Elite with a name displayed on the screen to a major reaction for Gargano. Cheers quickly drowned out when it was Morrison, not Gargano, who was chanted out, which wasn't helped by AEW's official X account accidentally tagging in Johnny Gargano is here. That's That's kind of crazy. How do you mess this up? the wrong Johnny. There was no way up from here. He wrestled just 37 matches since his debut, only six of which resulted in a victory because, again, like the former Evan Bourne, Tony Khan only views Johnny as a spot filler. But Johnny is at least understanding of why he hasn't been featured regularly. Interviewed by Chris Van Vliet earlier in 2026, he admitted that though he feels underutilized in AEW, he understands the limited TV time available to a roster of over 100 world-class wrestlers. Still though, why all the pain what is presumably several thousand dollars a year just to keep him hidden in the closet? Number six, Taya Valkyrie. As Johnny's wife, I mean Johnny TV, not Johnny Gargano, Taya Valkyrie has also been able to spend more time with her husband since joining him in AEW. She too has been scarcely used across her 3-year stint. Debuting in March of 2023, Taya was positioned from the off as the latest contender to Jade Cargill's TBS Championship. She was defeated, naturally, at Double or Nothing 2 months later, but immediately afterwards, Jade was finally toppled by a returning Kris Statlander, instead of making Valkyrie an afterthought after just 2 months. It was a trend that has continued for Valkyrie to this day. She currently aligned herself with her husband in MXM TV alongside fellow WWE outcast Mansoor and Mason Madden. Not that you'd know about it without scouring her Wikipedia page. She last wrestled for AEW in November 2025 and its sister promotion Ring of Honor in January 2026, her final match to date. Somewhat surprisingly, Tay was quick to defend Tony Khan in October 2025, noting how he isn't afraid to stray from his original plan. But seemingly, he's stuck to his original plan in terms of her usage. Number five, Parker Boudreaux. >> And guess what? He's still spending that money to keep him on the roster, so it's like they getting paid to just sit at catering. >> [laughter] >> Until he, you know, decides to you know, let them go, they just getting paid to sit at catering. That's that's about it. >> [laughter] >> A hype before he even made it to WWE television when Paul Heyman likened him to Brock Lesnar. Parker Boudreaux failed to fulfill his expected destiny as WWE's next big thing. Partnering with Joe Gacy in NXT, the repackaged Harland did a little less than throw Brian Kendrick down a flight of stairs before >> [laughter] >> he was shipped off to AEW, where his career well, admittedly, went downhill even further. Parker is signed to AEW for roughly two years, but you wouldn't be alone if you can't remember anything he accomplished. He was aligned with Ari Daivari's Trustbusters and later Swerve Strickland's Mogul Affiliates, but he was never refined enough between the ropes to be marketed as anything more than an intimidating sack of muscle. His release in April 2024 was inevitable. Surprisingly, he remained grateful in the aftermath of his failed push and post-AEW, the hulking Boudreaux has continued to wrestle, even making waves for his impressive performances in the Japanese promotion GLEAT. So perhaps his time in WWE or AEW hasn't quite reached its end. Number four, The Inspiration. The plans for AEW to introduce women's world tag team champions were first discussed by Tony Khan all the way back in 2019, but it wasn't until six years later in 2025 that they were finally formalized. Bizarrely, at a time when there weren't enough pairings to justify a division, let alone belts. The signing of The Inspiration shortly thereafter should have been an indicator of positivity for the division, but alas, it wasn't. Formerly The IIconics, Billie Kay and Peyton Royce, they were released in April 2021 were taken off the free agency register to start of 2026 following an unadvertised arrival during an AEW live event in Australia. Strangely, they went unmentioned on AEW programming and it wouldn't make their televised debut until the March 4th Dynamite where they were squashed in 90 seconds by the Brawling Brutes. Now, McKay has announced her pregnancy putting any further plans for the duo on hold for the foreseeable future. Well, it's not like they were any though. Most peculiarly of all, Tony signed the Aussies to multi-year deals. They weren't brought in simply for a cheap pop on their home turf, but to reiterate a point of >> That's crazy, bro. He just throwing bread. That's why it's even crazier Bobby Fish getting let go because Tony wasn't trying to pay what he wanted when he's giving out just contracts for people to get squashed and then just chill in catering. Like that's crazy. That's crazy, bro. >> [laughter] >> a common theme. Why waste money if you don't actively plan on using them, especially at the time when the division could use an established tag team? Number three, Lance Archer. Lance Archer is something of an anomaly among our entries. He managed to withstand the test of time and celebrate his sixth anniversary under the AEW flag and he still gets somewhat used regularly as a member of the Don Callis family, but he spent six years just getting by rather than doing anything truly noteworthy. At 6'8" and 289 lbs, Archer is the monster inserted opposite a popular babyface. He usually has good matches against such names like his 2022 Dynamite clash with Hangman Adam Page, but he is never and will never be that guy. Archer, a decorated tag team wrestler in Japan with Davey Boy Smith Jr., hasn't even found success in AEW's doubles division despite attempts at pairing him with another hulking giant. The latest with Brian Cage is good fun, but it's not exactly championship material. Even at 49 years old, Lance is still keen to prove his worth in AEW. And over the summer he quote tweeted a clip of him working Will Ospreay during a G1 Climax appearance, even stating he could still do this. But, don't expect his status with an AEW to change though, well, ever. Number two, Danhausen. >> Hey. >> A Danhausen >> I'll say this. If he's uh you know, still featured on television and getting some solid matches, some people that's their role. They'll They have a ceiling and they're probably not going to break through it. They'll be there, you know, getting some prominent moments here and there, but not everybody's going to end up at the top of the card and win championship gold. Not everybody can. There's going to be some people that are just going to be role players, probably in that mid-card range. Can give you some good matches here and there, but that's about it, pretty much. >> spent four years working for AEW and yet he only worked 24 matches. >> That's why. >> And he's been signed to WWE for only seven months and has already wrestled 19 matches. Well, even though it doesn't seem quite like that many, but his lengthy stay in AEW became a point of contention. His gimmick was better suited to WWE's sports entertainment environment rather than AEW's work rate heavy style. Arriving at the start of 2022, Danhausen's AEW signing was evidently a sign that Tony Khan was hoping to capitalize on the virality formed on the Indies. He's been soaring in popularity since first being introduced to a wider audience on Ring of Honor. >> Oh, no. >> Unfortunately, his kooky gimmick didn't translate well when it was bookended by a scorching angle between CM Punk and MJF. A Fightful Select report from late 2024 claiming that Danhausen hadn't been in regular contact with AEW for well over six months was sadly unsurprising. And yet another example of Tony Khan throwing money away. WWE meanwhile got a return on its investment on its 2026 jump ship. And number one, >> Uh oh, To be honest with you, damn near I guess you could say a little bit too much cuz bro, they love them some Danhausen. Danhausen makes them so much money. I will say this, I appreciate them toning him down just a bit. You don't see him as much cuz he'd be on Raw and SmackDown. They had him everywhere cuz he was pushing merch. He definitely [clears throat] fit WWE more. I think he was pushing some merch in AEW as well, but he definitely fits WWE more for that sports entertainment vibe. So, I'm glad they toned him down just a bit. I am. I can appreciate that. >> The Hardy Boyz. Tony Khan jumping at the opportunity to reunite the Hardy Boyz in early 2022 came as no surprise. But then again, neither did the very real problems that accompanied the signing of Jeff Hardy. Jeff who debuted in AEW on the March 9th Dynamite was arrested yet again just 3 months later on a DUI charge promoting his suspension. But legal issues aside, the younger Hardy brother had delivered a stinker of a performance against the Young Bucks at Double or Nothing. A match that he supposedly couldn't even remember. Unsurprisingly, no matter how legendary they may be, the Hardys were never booked so prominently once Jeff eventually returned and then both left in 2024. And Matt provided his side of his brother's run in AEW on an episode of his Extreme Life podcast being brazen enough to claim that the duo were misused by Tony Khan. >> Because I feel like one of the issues in AEW and I I said this before I did Busted Open earlier today. Like when we first came in and we were first getting used like we were in a good spot. Uh it was very cool what we're doing. Uh I I liked what Tony was doing with us and we were on the path to win the titles and then Jeff got in trouble. Uh Jeff messed up and that that was all on Jeff, you know, that that was not on Tony, that was not on AEW, that was on Jeff and it just is what it is. So, I did my thing. Jeff went and got himself right. Whenever he came back, you know, I figured oh it'll probably take a couple months, two, three months to prove himself because I knew where Jeff was here in his in his head. I knew what kind of positive head space he was in and how good of a place he was in. I said it would probably take two or three months to like earn the trust back of these people and then maybe they'll be off and running, but just after Jeff came back, you know, we we didn't win a tag team match for a year. It's crazy. We're the Hardys. We didn't win a tag team match on TV in a year. I mean I brought this point up like what what are we doing? Like we need just give us a win. Like you know, we don't need to be the champions, we don't need to be undefeated, but just like we need a win, you know, at some point. And just was very frustrating. >> Currently Matt and Jeff are going through the motions in TNA. This platforming of the brothers is about the only thing keeping them relevant in 2026. But there you have it folks, 10 W >> And that's the thing, the whole situation with Jeff. Granted having them lose for a year is kind of crazy though. Not going to lie to you. It is the Hardys, but that's the thing. Jeff is a lot of times he has been his biggest detractor because of his substance abuse. And I do believe he's doing so much better now and that's awesome. So it unfortunately derailed their momentum. Now, I don't know if I would just keep them in that purgatory of just completely losing cuz once again, it is the Hardys, you know, you don't want to immediately just try to reward them, you know, work their way back to that that spot, but to have them lose for like a year straight afterwards when you initially had them, you know, potentially winning the tag titles. That's a that's an interesting decision, but I'll say this, this happens in WWE, this happens in AEW. Sometimes people go to a certain company and there's high expectations and those expectations don't work out for whatever reason, whether it's booking, personal reasons, in-ring work rate, whatever the cause may be, sometimes it just doesn't pan out the way it's supposed to. And also before I end this video, I did see some people talking about this. I want to give my condolences to the wrestler Andy Williams. He passed away. I want to say uh he passed away yesterday. I seen people talking about it. He was in AEW. He was went by the name The Butcher. I'm not familiar with him, so I'm not going to act like I was, but I did see people are talking about this and since we were talking about AEW, I want to give my condolences to his family and friends. You know, it's it's just really unfortunate. So, Andy Williams uh passed away at 48. 48, man, and it's it's it's unfortunate, man. I don't know anything else, so if there is any, you know, any extra information that comes about comes out about that, I'll definitely check it out, but uh you know, just I'll say this to any and everybody, man, you know, just cherish your life. Cherish those around you. You know, try to live every day the best way you possibly can cuz you never know when unfortunately our time comes. We all got to go one day. So, prayers go out to him and his family and the people that love and care about him, man. But, hey, comment down below. Let me know some other wrestling-related videos y'all want me to check out. I definitely will. Appreciate all love support road to 20K. Appreciate y'all kicking with me. See y'all on the next one. Peace.