Am I making this thread because Emperor mentioned that Katsuyori Shibata is a must-watch wrestler? Yes, yes I am.

So, with that said, who in AEW do you consider must-see talent? Who are you tuning in to watch every week?

For me, Jay White and the rest of Bullet Club Gold, are just that (The Gunn Club are fantastic), I'm big on Kenny Omega as well obviously. Other talent for me, include Andrade El Idolo, Aussie Open, Bryan Danielson and Claudio Castagnoli of BCC, will also have me watching their stuff weekly. On the women's side of things, I'll go out of my way, to watch matches with Anna Jay, Julia Hart, Kris Statlander, Red Velvet, and of course Skye Blue (there are other female wrestlers I enjoy, but those will guarantee I'm watching).

Also, I've been loving the weekly lucha-style matches on Rampage, those are always must watch for me as well.

Jay White, Swerve Strickland and House of Black.

Katsuyori Shibata.

Also Jay White, Brian Danielson, Julia Hart, Skye Blue, Aussie Open, Swerve Strickland, Konosuke Takeshita, Wardlow, Kenny Omega in singles only.

Good shoot, with Swerve. I can't believe I forgot him. Honestly, I love what he's been doing, easily one of my favorite acts in AEW.

I'm giving everyone in this thread an opportunity to fix their mistake. Hey, we're human we all make mistakes, but there's only one must see talent and nobody has mentioned them yet.

Dec 28, 2023 10:00:42 GMT Big Pete said:

I'm giving everyone in this thread an opportunity to fix their mistake. Hey, we're human we all make mistakes, but there's only one must see talent and nobody has mentioned them yet.

Don't worry, I gotcha covered.



I like Hangman but he's a notch below must-watch.

Speaking of empty-headed individuals, was anybody ever going to tell me that Emperor ALSO had his brain removed like his idol Shibata?

You're telling me Hangman is not a Baker guy? Well then there's only one other option...

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}

Baker loves a dynamic dude in double denim.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}{Spoiler}

I will second pretty much every name already mentioned in this thread. They're definitely the cream of the crop that are carrying AEW talent-wise. If you find out any of the names mentioned have a singles match on a show, you pretty much have to watch at least that match.

I will add one name that might not be "must-see" yet but is on the cusp thanks to The Continental Classic: RUSH. He has quietly had an excellent year in the ring in AEW and this tournament solidified him as an upper mid-carder. I would love to see him get a run with the International or TNT title. El Toro Blanco would have a great run I think and doing weekly or bi-weekly title defenses on TV would push him into that must-see territory imo.

FTR is another "on the cusp" for me. They were must-see until they lost the tag titles and Dax's best little buddy CM Punk got fired. Now they seem to just be going through the motions or something. I dunno what their deal is but they've lost something. All of 2022 and the first half of 2023 I would go out of my way to watch FTR no matter what they were doing. But they've fallen off in recent months. Somehow even feuding with House of Black isn't giving them that kick in the ass I expected. I'm cheering for House of Black in this feud. The one-off 8-man tag at Final Battle was fun though.

Dec 28, 2023 16:47:32 GMT RT said:

I will add one name that might not be "must-see" yet but is on the cusp thanks to The Continental Classic: RUSH. He has quietly had an excellent year in the ring in AEW and this tournament solidified him as an upper mid-carder. I would love to see him get a run with the International or TNT title. El Toro Blanco would have a great run I think and doing weekly or bi-weekly title defenses on TV would push him into that must-see territory imo.

Agreed. I've never paid attention to RUSH before, but his matches in the Classic opened my eyes. He's not must-watch yet but pretty close. On a similar note, Andrade's stock has also increased, he used to be a never-watch guy, now he's a sometimes-watch. I will be watching Andrade vs Miro.

Been on board with pushing RUSH after he beat down Jungle Boy. Swerve, NANA, Starks, Stokely, Christian, Black, Matthews, BCG, and Joe. A few others but their booking has been so inconsistent or just down bad I lost faith in them like Takashita and Hobbs. Another one my guesses for the Devil and his crew which is why I thought they disappeared but they just disappeared for no reason after a few big wins.

The House Of Black. After speaking in riddles at 1st, now, they make sense. Joe is on a roll right now.

Dec 28, 2023 10:00:42 GMT Big Pete said:

I'm giving everyone in this thread an opportunity to fix their mistake. Hey, we're human we all make mistakes, but there's only one must see talent and nobody has mentioned them yet.

I assume Hikaru Shida?

Although I do like watching Emi Sakura do her thing as well.

Son's Dad is obviously sending you on a wild goose chase. It's like the senior prank of labeling pigs they let loose in the halls 1-2-3-5 to make them chase a ghost. Even if you say the correct answer Big Pete be like:

Dec 28, 2023 10:00:42 GMT Big Pete said:

I'm giving everyone in this thread an opportunity to fix their mistake. Hey, we're human we all make mistakes, but there's only one must see talent and nobody has mentioned them yet.

10 days later and this is the first time I notice this post was made by Big Pete and not Baker. That explains that whole lame "it's not Jeff Jarrett" routine I did a few posts ago.

Why did I think it was Baker? Maybe my brain actually has been removed...but I blame the avatar. It's always the avatar.

Emperor I was wondering why you mentioned me in this thread  :lol:  

Anyway, the correct answer is Jeff Jarrett & "Timeless" Toni Storm

Jan 5, 2024 18:35:06 GMT Lony said:

Dec 28, 2023 10:00:42 GMT Big Pete said:

I'm giving everyone in this thread an opportunity to fix their mistake. Hey, we're human we all make mistakes, but there's only one must see talent and nobody has mentioned them yet.

I assume Hikaru Shida?

Although I do like watching Emi Sakura do her thing as well.

You've said far too much.

In all seriousness, must-see is an incredibly high bar and AEW has two of them. Danielson who no matter how much he tries to bury himself can't help but be the best wrestler in the world. Then there's Darby who refuses not to suck despite essentially being Sting's Boy Wonder these past how many years.

There's a ton of talent on the roster that I enjoy but either through their own short-comings or simply bad booking just haven't quite hit that mark. Talent like Swerve, White, Takeshita, Vikingo, Hayter etc. are close but they're just missing that final piece.

Jan 6, 2024 0:49:28 GMT Baker said:

Emperor I was wondering why you mentioned me in this thread  :lol:  

Anyway, the correct answer is Jeff Jarrett & "Timeless" Toni Storm

I dunno what's worse... the fact that I no sold this for so long or the fact that only the Baker man is chiming in. Not gonna start watching or anything, but I'm side eyeing at least.

Blindy were you aware of this?

Swerve is the must watch guy IMO.  Dude is just good at so many things, and fused them together into his own style that is just now starting to emerge.

For pre-AEW Swerve, he was nuts in CZW.  13 or so in is his double stomp through the glass pane.  

Jan 5, 2024 18:22:29 GMT Ed said:

The House Of Black. After speaking in riddles at 1st, now, they make sense. Joe is on a roll right now.

Black had this wild angle planned out based on the God Ra, but like it just did not ever pan out or really make any sense on air.  It would have been amazing if they did pull trigger on it and make it more explicit as it was he would pass on the power of his eye to Julia so she could be his tool of vengeance on the impure.  But absolutely none of it really came off, and definitely did not get booked in a way anyone understood it as everyone sold it being the power of the mist corrupting her, and not Black turning her by passing his power into her.

Much prefer them since the trios run now using violence to bring out the purity in people.  So much easier to understand.

Feb 14, 2024 0:30:51 GMT c said:

Jan 5, 2024 18:22:29 GMT Ed said:

The House Of Black. After speaking in riddles at 1st, now, they make sense. Joe is on a roll right now.

Black had this wild angle planned out based on the God Ra, but like it just did not ever pan out or really make any sense on air.  It would have been amazing if they did pull trigger on it and make it more explicit as it was he would pass on the power of his eye to Julia so she could be his tool of vengeance on the impure.  But absolutely none of it really came off, and definitely did not get booked in a way anyone understood it as everyone sold it being the power of the mist corrupting her, and not Black turning her by passing his power into her.

Much prefer them since the trios run now using violence to bring out the purity in people.  So much easier to understand.

I think they kind of still nailed it without being all convoluted and confusing. Unless I am misremembering, Julia is the only person that has used the mist since she fully turned. She has corrupted Skye Blue with it and time will tell what happens to Daniel Garcia after the cage match.

Think everything is dropped so nothing will happen to Garcia. Skye they turned because like Julia I assume she hated her gimmick and wanted something knew. Also now gives Julia someone to team with.

Kylie if she returns will be turned too so she does not have to appear happy all the time.

But yeah the stuff was overly complicated so def needed to be simplified. And works well as the House as just violent brawlers is peak House.

Back to original question, should go without saying, but the women are def worth paying attention to in AEW.  They are booked like shit but so much talent there.  Ember Moon / Athena def should be checked out.  She is mostly in RoH these days, but her and Billie are perhaps the best thing Tony has going for him.  Nyla vs Athena gonna be sick.

Try to check out Billie Starkz as well.  She is just 19 and one of the best girls Tony has.  Thread down below on her minion program with Athena.  Those two stole the last RoH PPV fighting each other.

Swerve. Joe.

That’s the end of my list.

I’m not the AEW target, because “good worker” isn’t a draw for me. There are a ton of good workers, and I could watch good-to-great matches every day. They’re practically endless at this point.

But nothing breaks through like a great character. And those are the only two in AEW that have it.

What's so great about Swerve's character?

The guy's gimmick is that he breaks into houses and he has a manager that does a silly dance.

Feb 15, 2024 9:42:07 GMT Big Pete said:

What's so great about Swerve's character?

The guy's gimmick is that he breaks into houses and he has a manager that does a silly dance.

He’s featured regularly and made to seem important. It happens so rarely that it stands out and feels special.

Anyone who managed to stay relevant carrying around all the dead weight that is The Mogul Embassy deserves a shot.

You all put some respect on the crown prince of Ghana's name!!!

Feb 16, 2024 23:17:02 GMT PB said:

Feb 15, 2024 9:42:07 GMT Big Pete said:

What's so great about Swerve's character?

The guy's gimmick is that he breaks into houses and he has a manager that does a silly dance.

He’s featured regularly and made to seem important. It happens so rarely that it stands out and feels special.

That seems to be the long and the short of it.

I'm not sure what to make of the disconnect. It was like Swerve who had done nothing but get his ass beat for months interrupted Hangman's display of charity to deliver a bunch of home truths. Suddenly it was like all the Hangman fans realised Swerve was right and immediately turned on Hangman for being fat. Swerve was filming himself breaking and entering houses and fans only fell more in love with him.

It wasn't like he won them over because he was the better wrestler. In the first two matches, Hangman had both of them won only for the Embassy to interfere. It's not like he's the life of the party or has this story you want to get behind - he just hangs out with this one guy that likes to dance.

It's the one piece that's missing. Fans will point to Steve Austin, but Austin was booked strong and Bret had already been the defacto heel against Shawn at the previous Mania. The guy kicked up a massive stink at Mania, took time off and was still whining when he came back. The stage was set and it took one of the all-time great Wrestlemania performances to pull it off.