Has AEW put together the most stacked roster since 00 WWF?

[Fake Jesus]

It's often been said of WWE that "they have the best roster in history, and they just don't know how to use it" - the fair rejoinder has been that while that's probably true from a raw athletics ability, WWF in the late-stage of the Attitude Era had a pound-for-pound better, more varied roster, hence WWE's roster typically being classified as (from a pure talent standpoint) the best since that period.

Is that even true anymore? With WWE's talent cuts and the ageing of a lot of their stars, it looks to me like AEW might actually have the stronger, more complete talent pool. The only WWE main roster stars who can be argued to be doing their best work right now or in the recent past are Reigns, Lashley, and McIntyre. For the women it's a different picture, but even that division has declined to the point where its only real advantage over AEW's is how much screen time they get.

What do you think? I personally can't remember a time I saw a roster this palpably teeming with present and future stars - and a lot of them are from the dregs of the late '10s indies that WWE decided didn't pose a threat, I mean goddamn Fire Ant is the top face of their upper-midcard.

[Deleted]

Aug 2, 2021 4:03:11 GMT -5 Fake Jesus said:

It's often been said of WWE that "they have the best roster in history, and they just don't know how to use it" - the fair rejoinder has been that while that's probably true from a raw athletics ability, WWF in the late-stage of the Attitude Era had a pound-for-pound better, more varied roster, hence WWE's roster typically being classified as (from a pure talent standpoint) the best since that period.

Is that even true anymore? With WWE's talent cuts and the ageing of a lot of their stars, it looks to me like AEW might actually have the stronger, more complete talent pool. The only WWE main roster stars who can be argued to be doing their best work right now or in the recent past are Reigns, Lashley, and McIntyre. For the women it's a different picture, but even that division has declined to the point where its only real advantage over AEW's is how much screen time they get.

What do you think? I personally can't remember a time I saw a roster this palpably teeming with present and future stars - and a lot of them are from the dregs of the late '10s indies that WWE decided didn't pose a threat, I mean goddamn Fire Ant is the top face of their upper-midcard.

It's an interesting time, to be sure. Because for the first time in... well, ever, really, the stars are aligned for Vince to face real, legit competition. WCW came close, but were beholden to being owned by the network and the requisite baggage that came with that, and bad leadership (Sorry Bisch, you seem like a cool guy nowadays, but few people paint you positively from back then)... not to mention bad booking.

TNA was/is a cockroach that won't die. Impact wrestling does just fine for itself now that there's new people at the helm, but the Jarrett family followed by the Carter family did no favors in terms of making it real competition.

ROH I always saw as "boutique" wrestling, as even in its heyday it was more for the more discerning fan.

New Japan is in another country and never really took its North American business too seriously.

So... yeah, it's interesting to finally have someone doing to Vince what he did to all of the territory owners in the 80's. It's the circle of life and the circle of business: someone new comes along with new ideas and a fat wad of cash to make them happen.

[Edge of Insanity]

As someone who watches and enjoys most of both companies, i think both WWE and AEW are pretty stacked, but id still give the edge to the WWE. And as far as the women, WWE is still head and shoulders better than AEW.

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

WWE might just currently win due to sheer Bulk and talent... even if they don't use them all right.

But with the potential of Bryan, Punk, Wyatt, and Cole? That gap is gonna close quickly if they wind up getting all of them.

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

Aug 2, 2021 4:17:37 GMT -5 Edge of Insanity said:

As someone who watches and enjoys most of both companies, i think both WWE and AEW are pretty stacked, but id still give the edge to the WWE. And as far as the women, WWE is still head and shoulders better than AEW.

In NXT yes. Main Roster? I would argue that it's more on par. AEW's Women's weakness is time management... WWE's Main Roster is both time management and overall booking. The rosters have been very dire lately.

[Bad Moon]

I think the baseline of talent and how they're used is higher on AEW but the heights of peak WWF were still higher.

[Edge of Insanity]

Aug 2, 2021 4:20:40 GMT -5 Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] said:

Aug 2, 2021 4:17:37 GMT -5 Edge of Insanity said:

As someone who watches and enjoys most of both companies, i think both WWE and AEW are pretty stacked, but id still give the edge to the WWE. And as far as the women, WWE is still head and shoulders better than AEW.

In NXT yes. Main Roster? I would argue that it's more on par. AEW's Women's weakness is time management... WWE's Main Roster is both time management and overall booking. The rosters have been very dire lately.

I  was lumping nxt and the main roster together, since it is the same company and talent can bounce around when they see fit to do it. And i think WWE has way more top female talent than AEW does, and its not even close in my opinon. Charlotte, Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks, Bayley are all better than anyone AEW has imo. WWE just doesnt do the best to feature them correctly sometimes, while it feels like AEW barely features the women at all.

[Bad Moon]

Aug 2, 2021 4:31:55 GMT -5 Edge of Insanity said:

Aug 2, 2021 4:20:40 GMT -5 Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] said:

In NXT yes. Main Roster? I would argue that it's more on par. AEW's Women's weakness is time management... WWE's Main Roster is both time management and overall booking. The rosters have been very dire lately.

I  was lumping nxt and the main roster together, since it is the same company and talent can bounce around when they see fit to do it. And i think WWE has way more top female talent than AEW does, and its not even close in my opinon. Charlotte, Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks, Bayley are all better than anyone AEW has imo. WWE just doesnt do the best to feature them correctly sometimes, while it feels like AEW barely features the women at all.

This. If you're gonna talk about rosters only divorced fron the product, current WWE is still heads and shoulders above any company, no matter what division you look at.

[Edge of Insanity]

Aug 2, 2021 4:34:07 GMT -5 Bad Moon said:

Aug 2, 2021 4:31:55 GMT -5 Edge of Insanity said:

I  was lumping nxt and the main roster together, since it is the same company and talent can bounce around when they see fit to do it. And i think WWE has way more top female talent than AEW does, and its not even close in my opinon. Charlotte, Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks, Bayley are all better than anyone AEW has imo. WWE just doesnt do the best to feature them correctly sometimes, while it feels like AEW barely features the women at all.

This. If you're gonna talk about rosters only divorced fron the product, current WWE is still heads and shoulders above any company, no matter what division you look at.

I  thought thats what were talking about, i do apologize if i misunderstood the post. 

[Kalmia]

I'd say WWE has the currently most stacked roster. Depending on how many more may have been future endeavoured while I type this...

However, AEW's roster has so much potential and is more likely to reach it, I think. The amount of talent AEW has that are still in their twenties, yet are already credible show headliners is nuts. Guys like MJF, Sammy, Jungle Boy, Darby, and Ricky Starks all have their best to come. The women's roster has some great raw talent in wrestlers such as Tay Conti, Anna Jay, and Layla Hirsch, too (although I have less confidence in how AEW will develop the women.)

TLDR: WWE has the best roster now. AEW has the potential to have the best roster in five years time.

[Can you afford to pay me, Gah]

WWE is still very stacked but in a lot of ways so is AEW. I will say AEW does a better job using the talent and they mix things up more. WWE has the talent but using them right is a whole different topic. I agree that the gap isn't that far apart. WWE women is still better but not by as much they where lets say six months ago due to wwe releases and injury to Bayley for a long period of time. AEW and how they use and develop the womens is the week spot. AEW beats WWE in tag team division and IMO being the better booked show when it comes to keeping the crowds engaged. WWE already lost crowds just weeks into live shows in not keeping them engaged and excited. AEW wins in doing a better job of keeping them alive. AEW also hasn't just about killed there future stars credibility. Even when they lose it after a long back and forth match with something happening in the ending. To at less they could get right back into being a potential threat. WWE having top faces getting squashed doesn't have that.

[Bo Rida]

I think it's really hard to compare. I think it's more accurate to say AEW has the best utilized roster since 2000. The majority are over to varying degrees and even the likes of Luther and Del Sol have carved out their niche.

Somebody like Keith Lee might be more talented than most but does it matter if he's booked like an afterthought?

Aew also have more wrestlers on the way up while WWE have many that peaked years ago and are on the way down. Can't deny the talent of say Miz and Rey but I'd rather have MJF and Fenix on my roster.

[Macho Pichu]

The entire wrestling industry is stacked with talent right now. AEW is very good at making use of who they have, even if they should really try to book more than one women's match a week and maybe not have them consistently in the same time slot. WWE has an incredible roster of their own, but the booking is consistently disappointing. NJPW, Impact, ROH, GCW, NWA and pretty much everyone else, also manage to have some of the best on the planet as well. There's never been a better time to be a great wrestler.

[lucas_lee]

This is the a really stacked roster with a lot of young talent. This roster is gonna go places.

[smokinvokoun86]

I love with the roster they have and how they rotate people in and out. Every Dynamite card feels different and everyone on the roster can deliver a great match, even if it doesn’t have a great card on paper. And they do a great job of keeping everyone strong, no one is buried or treated like they are a loser, unless they are jobbers. For the ever growing roster they have, they handle them well. But with Rampage giving them 3 to 4 extra matches a week on TV will do them wonders.

[Hypnosis]

Aug 2, 2021 5:05:16 GMT -5 Kalmia said:

I'd say WWE has the currently most stacked roster. Depending on how many more may have been future endeavoured while I type this...

However, AEW's roster has so much potential and is more likely to reach it, I think. The amount of talent AEW has that are still in their twenties, yet are already credible show headliners is nuts. Guys like MJF, Sammy, Jungle Boy, Darby, and Ricky Starks all have their best to come. The women's roster has some great raw talent in wrestlers such as Tay Conti, Anna Jay, and Layla Hirsch, too (although I have less confidence in how AEW will develop the women.)

TLDR: WWE has the best roster now. AEW has the potential to have the best roster in five years time.

True, AEW needs to have more women featured on TV and actively wanting title shots against Britt Baker, along with some non-title feuds like the men have.

That being said, this fall's going to be interesting with how the men's roster is going to look, even compared to now.

["Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik]

I would say they're getting the most out of their roster compared to other eras but in terms of just raw talent, there was a period in early 2002 where WWF/E just had like dozens and dozens of all time greats. They weren't using a lot of them well, but they were there.

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

I prefer AEW in every sense, but WWE even since this wave of releases still has the best roster on Earth through sheer numbers.

[polarbearpete]

I think AEW is overall using their roster better than WWE has in recent times (with the women’s division being an extremely glaring exception), but I don’t see the AEW roster as an all-timer yet.

However, with Punk and Bryan coming in, and potentially Bray and Cole, they are getting close to that level. It may also be that when we look back at the roster it looks even better than now due to how young a lot of their stars are.

[moxfan1]

Raw/Smackdown combined roster has currently small edge on AEW roster with the males. But additions of Danielson and Punk make AEW blow past WWE roster. When you consider the cuts they've made and stars AEW added.


Raw/Smackdown still have big advantage on the woman's side. They have Becky, Sasha, Charlotte, Bayley at top. Along with Asuka, Alexa, Ripley, Belair, Nattie, Carmella etc. AEW roster of Baker, Thunder Rosa, Shida, Statlander, Rose, Deeb, Riho and Cargil. Don't quite have star power of Becky or Charlotte yet.