AEW has a deep roster today with many of the best wrestlers in the world all coming from different backgrounds. Former WWE stars, new rising stars and everyone in between have joined the promotion to help them move forward as a new force in wrestling. Most talents on the roster had former gimmicks in their past with mixed results.
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There are certain names who had previous characters that worked better than their current AEW act. Changes are typically needed to progress in one’s career, but the best move is sometimes to go back to something that worked in the past. Each of the following AEW wrestlers may be better off with their former gimmicks.
10 Lance Archer
AEW has struggled to book Lance Archer effectively since signing him away from New Japan a few years ago. Archer’s NJPW gimmick of a genuinely unpredictable bad guy got him over and led to the best run of his entire career.
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The AEW stint has featured some fun matches against Jon Moxley, Adam Page and Cody Rhodes, but he has not had much character depth. Archer having Jake Roberts as his manager could have led to more. It just turned into him playing a generic heel getting involved when AEW needs a new heel contender.
9 Tay Conti
The recent changes to Tay Conti have seen her completely turn heel with love interest Sammy Guevara in the Jericho Appreciation Society. Guevara and Conti saw the audience turning on them when making their real-life romance a face act.
The face character for Sammy did not work, and he badly needed this heel turn. Conti however was doing well in her previous gimmick as a face for the women’s division, especially when teaming with Anna Jay. It is hard to envision this version of Tay working as well as that act did.
8 Angelico
Angelico has changed his wrestling style in AEW compared to what fans remember from his Lucha Underground run. The unique show spotlighted Angelico as one of their top stars known for a daredevil style in the ring.
Lucha Underground set up huge spots for Angelico to leave everyone in awe, much like Darby Allin and Ricochet today. AEW has used Angelico in a smaller role and his in-ring style is more technical based. Angelico was significantly better in his Lucha Underground run using that character.
7 Trent Beretta
AEW has recently made some changes to Trent Beretta both in his demeanor and tag team partner choice. The Best Friends trio of Trent, Chuck Taylor and Orange Cassidy have always been over as a face playing their comedic selves.
Trent has shown a more serious side during his times teaming with Rocky Romero in Roppongi Vice during their storyline with FTR and Will Ospreay’s United Empire faction. The previous version of Beretta was more enjoyable and an established act in AEW.
6 Kip Sabian
The return of Kip Sabian has seemingly been teased for almost a year now. Sabian was out with an injury for months after his storyline with Miro ended. AEW kept Kip off television, but he started to appear in a mysterious gimmick in the summer of 2021.
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Sabian started appearing in the crowd during matches wearing a suit and hiding his face under a box with the writing about him being underrated. Any interest in that gimmick was lost after such a long time without any progression. Kip may be better off going back to his previous heel act with girlfriend Penelope Ford as his manager.
5 Dustin Rhodes
AEW started off well using Dustin Rhodes as a valued veteran on the roster. Dustin does seem to get a big match every few months before leaving the spotlight until the next match of that ilk surfaces. The recent run has seen Rhodes struggling to get television time or expand his character.
Dustin has shown in the past that he is at his best creatively taking a big leap. The Goldust portrayal remains the peak of his career when making that character work. AEW may need to make a change to give Dustin an ideal shift in the future.
4 Jay Lethal
The heel turn of Jay Lethal allowed him to have some more importance feuding with Samoa Joe on AEW TV. Lethal is trying to break out with this new side of himself after years of playing the respected face of Ring of Honor.
Most fans would still go all the way back to the Black Machismo of his TNA career as the peak. Lethal broke out on a national stage and had noteworthy matches. The entertainment value of his Randy Savage impersonation brought something new to the table that got him over.
3 Frankie Kazarian
Frankie Kazarian has been in an odd place trying to find a new character to get back on television consistently. The weird face character aligning with Sammy Guevara against Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page made little overall sense.
Kazarian’s best run in AEW came with the SCU trio that originated before then in Ring of Honor. The SCU trio with Sky and Christopher Daniels was over at the start of the company. It didn’t have the legs to keep growing, but Kazarian would have been better off without that change.
2 Allie
AEW currently has Allie in the role of The Bunny since it made logical sense to manage The Butcher and The Blade. This character was an extension of her TNA end when Allie embraced The Bunny to team with The Demon aka Rosemary.
However, Allie’s best time in the promotion came playing an overly kind and lovable face character. Maria Kanellis hiring Allie as an assistant and bullying her created a story for fans to get behind her. Allie played a tremendous underdog hero winning the Knockouts Championship.
1 Private Party
The duo of Marq Quen and Isiah Kennedy felt like a future star act in AEW’s tag team division when the company started. Private Party even scored a shocking upset victory over the Young Bucks in the first round of the AEW Tag Team Championship tournament to get fans behind them.
AEW turning them heel to become the lackeys of Matt Hardy and then Andrade hurt their momentum. Private Party’s heel act has not gotten them anywhere near the status they were at the very start as faces. A character change is needed for this still promising tag team to get over.
