Over the last few months, AEW has beaten companies, especially WWE, for three of the biggest names of this era. Those wrestlers are Will Ospreay, Kazuchika Okada, and Mercedes Moné. On paper, these are great signees but are three big faces always right for a company? In this article, you’ll find out why each superstar is good and bad for the company. Let’s start with the Aerial Assassin Will Ospreay.
AEW Beats WWE For Latest Signees Good or Bad?
Pros for Will Ospreay
Sunday, March 3#AEWRevolution LIVE on PPV!
Greensboro, NCWill Ospreay vs. Konosuke Takeshita
Don Callis said it will be the match of the decade, as two Don Callis Family members @WillOspreay & @Takesoup go head-to-head LIVE on PPV! pic.twitter.com/T2U3mNGoox
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) February 15, 2024
The leader of the United Empire is no stranger to AEW. Ospreay has wrestled in a tournament with Aussie Open to compete for the inaugural AEW World Trios championship, where they lost to The Elite in the semi-finals. He has also tangled with the likes of Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega, and Dax Harwood, to name a few.
Now it seems he has joined the Don Callis Family alongside Konosuke Takeshita, who he will face at AEW’s Revolution.
Aside from the familiarity of AEW, Ospreay is a multiple-time world champion. He has had multiple Matches of the Year awards, including in TNA and NJPW. AEW is getting a high-caliber superstar who is considered to be one of the top 10 wrestlers of the last few years. The United Kingdom superstar is the main event talent who will bring out the best of the other wrestlers in AEW.
Ospreay would be a welcomed addition anywhere he goes. So for him to choose AEW is a big addition for Tony Khan. Ospreay can be either a heel or a face, and at AEW Revolution, AEW has a chance to turn him face. If he beats Takeshita, the Don Callis family could turn on Ospreay and have him be a Babyface singles star for a while.
Imagine the matches Ospreay could have in AEW. Ospreay vs. Adam Cole, Adam Copeland, MJF versus Swerve Strickland, Jon Moxley, and the AEW World Heavyweight Champion Samoa Joe, to name a few. The world is anticipating Ospreay’s AEW return, but why could his run be bad for AEW?
Cons for Will Ospreay
There is only one major argument for why Ospreay’s addition might not be positive in AEW. That is the overall talent that AEW has in their roster. This AEW roster is stacked with talent that Will Ospreay’s momentum could be dimmed if they are not careful. It has happened to the likes of Ricky Starks, Wardlow, Darby Allin, and Hook, to name a few.
These talents are good because of the handful of talent, but the storylines for these wrestlers go stale, or we don’t see said wrestlers in weeks, even months.
Ospreay is a talent that needs to be on AEW on a weekly basis. He is too much of a top talent not to have on AEW on a regular basis. He is good on the mic and even better in the ring. If he does not get a spot on AEW’s Dynamite on Wednesdays, there are also AEW Rampage on Fridays and AEW Collision.
However, Dynamite is basically the Monday Night Raw of AEW. If Ospreay is not on Dynamite because of the stacked roster, it would be another wasted potential for AEW, which is not good luck for either Ospreay or AEW. Now, let’s take a look at why it could be not good for Mercedes Moné in AEW.
Cons for Mercedes Moon
Not to take anything away from Mercedes Moné, who is a fantastic wrestler, but her being in AEW could be bad for the company for one specific reason. Her attitude towards fans and her attitude in general. Known as a hothead when she was with WWE, she had problems with other top female wrestlers like Alexa Bliss and even walked out on the company.
As for Sasha Banks, she walked out on WWE with Naomi even though they were the WWE Women’s Tag Team champions at the time. That is not a good look at all.
Whose to say she won’t walk away from AEW if she does not feel happy. Which was ridiculous because she was a multiple-time Women’s World champion in WWE. She was one of the top faces as a heel and as a face in the main roster and in NXT.
She had everything handed to her in WWE, and she still walked out because she wasn’t happy with a match outcome that was not in her favor. If she had that attitude in AEW, AEW would be better off.
Then there are the fans. Mercedes Moné has been caught on numerous occasions being rude and a bully to her fans. Even belittling someone for asking a question about WWE. If that is her attitude in the future, it is a bad look for her and a bad look for AEW. However, if her attitude is kept in check and she has a change of heart, then she will be a brilliant addition to AEW.
Pros for Mercedes Moné
Mercedes Moné is a great professional wrestler. Since her days in NXT, she has gotten better in the ring, she has amazing mic skills, and she looks like a star. Moné would be a welcome addition to a Women’s roster that could use a big name ever since Jade Cargill left for WWE. Not to say the AEW Women’s division doesn’t have top talents, but they could have more.
Right now, AEW’s biggest stars in the Women’s Division are Toni Storm and Deanna Purrazzo. They are great talents who will be fighting each other for Storm’s AEW Women’s World Championship at AEW Revolution. It is safe to say you could throw Moné into the mix with the top two once she makes her AEW debut.
She could have amazing matches with great up-and-coming superstars, including AEW TBS Women’s Champion Julia Hart, Skye Blue, and Willow Nightingale. Moné in AEW means more TV time for the Women’s division in Dynamite, Rampage, and Collision, which would be huge for the rest of the Women’s roster.
She would easily fit into the roster and will have fantastic matches with the ones mentioned above and others like Ruby Soho, Kris Statlander, Anna Jay, and so much more. Moné could be one of the biggest stars in the AEW Women’s division at the end of the day. Now let’s focus on Kazuchika Okada.
Pros for Kazuchika Okada
Like Ospreay, Kazuchika Okada is considered one of the best wrestlers in the world right now. As a 36-year-old veteran, Okada could do wonders for the main event and mid-card of AEW.
He could help out the younger generation like Hook, Daniel Garcia, Darby Allin, Sammy Guevara, and the list goes on. Imagine some of the matches he could have with Jay White, Bryan Danielson, Eddie Kingston, Adam Page, Malakai Black, etc.
Kazuchika Okada is no stranger to championship gold and high-caliber matches, either. He won the Match of the Year award in 2018 against Kenny Omega. He is a five-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion for NJPW. In his fourth reign, he held the championship for 720 days, the longest in NJPW history. So you know Okada could be a big threat to the AEW World Championship once he goes to AEW.
Just like Ospreay, he is also familiar with AEW and their wrestlers. He has competed against Jay White, Kenny Omega, and Bryan Danielson and teamed up with Orange Cassidy.
Okada is a superstar who would be OK putting over younger talent because he is older. The Rainmaker would also be okay with starting from the bottom and slowly making his way to the mid-card and main event because he is such a class act. AEW will benefit widely from a class act like Okada. They will be happy they made the right choice and signed a once-in-a-lifetime talent.
Cons for Kazuchika Okada
Exactly like Ospreay, Okada being in AEW would only be bad because of how much main-event talent the AEW roster has. When I say the roster is stacked with stars,
I mean it. I even left out some other superstars in the roster in this article because there are so many. Okada is a high talent, and like any talent, they benefit from being used in the roster a lot, but with a stacked roster, he could be left out of the mix, which is not something they should do. Okada is the main event caliber and needs to be treated as such.
Another possible Con for Okada is his mic skills could be better but they are not the worst. He could benefit from a manager, maybe Don Callis. However, I can’t see Okada being a heel. Not at this age because of how beloved he is by the fans and respected by wrestlers all around the world. Okada would be a fantastic babyface on the roster.
Overview of the 3 Recent Signees
Will Ospreay and Kazuchika Okada have been here and are both world-class athletes. Aside from the stacked roster, they should both benefit from AEW and vice versa.
Their being in AEW is a welcome addition and the right choice for the company’s future. The same goes for Mercedes Moné. I know I’ve talked about her attitude, but her overall talent is too big not to be a positive signee for AEW.
Look for her to be one of the biggest Women’s stars the company has ever had. Each of the three signees has more pros than cons, and each will have a fantastic career in AEW if Tony Khan books them right.
More From LWOS Pro Wrestling
Header photo – AEW – Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world. As well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can catch AEW Dynamite on Wednesday nights at 8 PM ET on TBS. AEW Rampage airs on TNT at 10 PM EST every Friday night. AEW Collision airs Saturday at 8pm Eastern on TNT. More AEW content available on their YouTube.
