Remove the tribalism. Like any workplace, one environment might suit one worker better than another. Plenty have thrived in AEW\u2019s \u201cno floaties\u201d environment<\/a>. Undeniable, their wrestling prowess makes them beloved by fans. Often, their wrestling skills complement and pair well with their gimmicks\/personas to tell in-ring stories. Let\u2019s explore who, how, and why. If I have missed anyone, let me know in the comments.<\/p>\n The way Christian Cage conducts his business superficially seems WWE-like. Superficially, Cage\u2019s villainous, manipulative heel caricature, right down to catchphrases and wrestling in a black turtleneck, would not feel out of place in WWE. What elevates Cage\u2019s Patriarch beyond a parody of the classic teacher\/mentor role is characterisation.<\/p>\n Building on Cage\u2019s historic career creates the persona of a mastermind veteran. Overlooked and underappreciated, yet aware of how to achieve his ends. Masterfully switching from nemesis to best friend again with Adam Copeland, from heel to a face, required story beats, justification, and time. Unlike in WWE, changing alignment hasn\u2019t meant sacrificing what made the character special. It\u2019s why many AEW fans want Cage to be their dad.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Some wrestlers may never fit into a larger-than-life character mould. Ricochet struggled to be the superhero WWE wanted him to be. Exposed on the microphone, many fans knew this would be a problem. \u00a0Initially, joining AEW exposed that even in-ring, Ricochet\u2019s once innovative work was now the norm. It was AEW’s house style. Being a good wrestler wasn\u2019t enough. Like many former WWE wrestlers, there was an adjustment period<\/a>.<\/p>\n By leaning into his cringe-inducing social media banter and transforming himself into a self-deluded coward, Ricochet has proved critics wrong. Ricochet has become comfortable embodying a character who can talk himself into trouble. The robe fits. A joy to watch, not just for his athleticism, but for what Ricochet does in the space between moves. Although his social media antics see some fans yet again confuse reality and kayfabe, it\u2019s Ricochet who\u2019s gotten the last laugh. Aha!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The former Neville has lived long enough to go from hero to villain to outright bastard. However, in AEW, PAC has been grouchy and moody, and fans love him for this. As a solo act, part of the Death Triangle, Blackpool Combat Club, and now Death Riders, PAC\u2019s been more than a wrestling bully archetype for six years.<\/p>\n Making it unique is hard. PAC acts, speaks, and hits opponents in a way that would have made the Dynamite Kid walk the other way. The Newcastle native went from a high-flyer who gravity forgot to relying on a more grounded, dark, brooding aura. A transformation somewhat enhanced by contact issues with WWE and periods of inactivity.<\/p>\n Very little has changed about PAC\u2019s character or presentation in six years because it works, and fans aren\u2019t sick of it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Criticism that AEW can\u2019t create characters ignores how repeatedly WWE has been happy to borrow from what worked in the land of the Elite. From Shawn Spears\u2019s love of chairs to Cody Rhodes and Jade Cargill\u2019s presentation, the copy-and-paste job of Rusev\u2019s current guise is glaring.<\/p>\n Both verbiage and strong presentation borrow heavily from his time as The Redeemer. His first promos, where the former Russian sympathiser promised pain and misery, were done in the same style as those that used to air on Dynamite and Collision. Retrospectively, Miro\u2019s failures seem linked to his decisions as much as AEW creative.<\/p>\n If The Bulgarian Brute can equal his performance as God\u2019s Favourite Champion<\/a>, both performer and company should thank AEW for being the ground zero for the character.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Fans who want Dean Ambrose to come \u201chome\u201d haven\u2019t read Jon Moxley\u2019s autobiography, where his frustrations with the WWE creative system go beyond McMahon-centric creative. In AEW, the real-life Jonathan Good can be a version of himself that, through good, bad, and ugly periods, represents something more meaningful than the hollow title of the Lunatic Fringe.<\/p>\n Moxley is no longer reliant on props, comedy, restraint, or inconsistency for characterisation. Instead, Moxley has pushed the full range of creative boundaries in AEW through different periods while remaining at his core, the same embodiment of the alternative in pro wrestling<\/a>.<\/p>\n It cuts both ways. The glorious AEW World Championship reign in the Pandemic contrasts with the sometimes groin-inducing and frustrating nature of the Death Riders.<\/a> Although Moxley\u2019s character can swing from an impossible-to-relate-to 90s action hero caricature to being the coolest guy in the room, he is always something more than unhinged. Moxley\u2019s character has been an anchor for AEW through its history.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Allowed to do what they could not in WWE, the trio of MVP, Bobby Lashley, and Shelton Benjamin are collectively and individually multi-dimensional characters. The way WWE books and presents black wrestlers and their characters is a constant source of debate. Their run in WWE was brief, with potential leftover for fantasy booking.<\/p>\n AEW\u2019s booking of factions varies, but the sense of equity, patience, and dynamism that all three luxuriate in suggest there\u2019s plenty more to come\u2014killer athletes who are also savvy businessmen and clever veterans who know how to maximise their worth. To what extent their apparent politicking is real or a fan-created layer of kayfabe, it\u2019s given this third version (if you include TNA\u2019s Beatdown Clan) of the group intrigue.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Undoubtedly, Swerve Strickland\u2019s AEW career best demonstrates how former WWE wrestlers can adapt to life in AEW and can make themselves undeniable. From day one, Strickland built a character hungry for success, resulting in the rise of a Mogul.<\/p>\n The call and response of \u201cwhose house\u201d grew. Turning coolness chilled into coldness by betraying Keith Lee made Strickland a hot prospect. Commitment and self-belief allowed Strickland to elevate himself through thin material and an unresolved feud with Lee.<\/p>\n Strickland\u2019s need for success meant that each big loss caused him to evolve in small but noticeable ways. From growing his hair long to adding dark circles beneath his eyes, to the change in relationships with friends and foes like Prince Nana, Will Ospreay, and Hangman Adam Page, showed nuance. Complex characterisation has made Strickland another protagonist in AEW\u2019s story.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n One wrestler came from WWE, having felt she was given no direction, and made herself Timeless. From day one, Storm was a weekly in-ring highlight of the women\u2019s division. Yet as a character, the punk rock attitude was not unique. Her promos were \u201cnot cool\u201d.<\/p>\n History often sees airbrushing. Storm\u2019s transformation was gradual and rocky. There was much trial and error to create a balance between Storm the wrestler and Storm the movie starlet in the ring<\/a>. Characterisation is what drives Storm\u2019s matches. Watch WrestleDream. Storm allowed herself to be pummelled by Kris Statlander. Purposefully toned her abilities down to put over the new champion, push her own story arc, and leave room for the rematch. The Timeless character is cinematic storytelling personified.<\/p>\n More From LWOS Pro Wrestling<\/strong><\/p>\n Header photo \u2013 AEW \u2013 Stay tun<\/em>ed to the\u00a0Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/a> for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. <\/em>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.\u00a0 You can catch AEW Dynamite on Wednesday nights at 8 PM ET on TBS. AEW Collision airs Saturday at 8 pm Eastern on TNT. More AEW content available on their\u00a0YouTube<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Of all the hollow myths surrounding AEW, the concept that the alternative to WWE doesn\u2019t build characters is asinine and low-effort criticism. One used to protect, in contrast, the WWE myth of being the pinnacle of storytelling and character work. Both promotions have their own style and means of character creation and storyline. Whereas WWE […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4960,"featured_media":144554,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4677,6,2192,4],"tags":[7500,4395,8520,8984],"class_list":["post-144494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aew","category-north-america","category-wrestling","category-wwe","tag-christian-cage","tag-jon-moxley","tag-swerve-strickland","tag-timeless-toni-storm"],"modified_by":"Michael Joseph Sugue, Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4960"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144494"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144494\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":144556,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144494\/revisions\/144556"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Christian Cage <\/strong><\/h2>\n
Ricochet<\/strong><\/h2>\n
PAC <\/strong><\/h2>\n
Miro <\/strong><\/h2>\n
Jon Moxley <\/strong><\/h2>\n
The Hurt Syndicate<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Swerve Strickland <\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"An](\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/10\/22-40.jpg\")
\u201cTimeless\u201d Toni Storm <\/strong><\/h2>\n