Minimum Wage Nerd

In the roughly six years of All Elite Wrestling’s existence, the wrestling industry has been through a lot as a whole. AEW was no exception with plenty of highs and lows in the company’s young history, but one thing remained constant – great in-ring action. The action reflected an almost all-star roster of wrestlers from all over the world to make AEW “where the best wrestle.”

AEW in 2025 may exemplify that idea better than any as the promotion has experienced a massive bounce-back in quality, especially on their weekly TV shows, thanks to one of the deepest and most talented roster assembled in wrestling today.

It got me thinking on a very simple question – is AEW’s 2025 roster the greatest ever assembled in wrestling history?

And, to be blunt, I think there is an argument to be had at the very least. The main event scene is as good a place to start as any and a photo that became a sensation among wrestling fans.

“Attack for the Next Generation”

Three stars had been front and center in AEW all through 2025, leading the charge as the company began its resurgence.

First was Swerve Strickland, who has made AEW his home since 2022 following his release from WWE in November 2021. The Mogul went from tag gold with Keith Lee to singles star, taking some time to find his footing before crossing paths with another in the photo above. From there, Swerve ascended to become a world champion in April 2024 and solidified himself as one of the true faces of AEW with bloody wars against the likes of Jon Moxley and going toe-to-toe with Bryan Danielson, wrestler-to-wrestler.

Then there was the ‘Aerial Assassin,’ ‘The Commonwealth Kingpin,’ or the ‘Billy GOAT’ Will Ospreay. The Essex-native already made his presence in AEW known while still with New Japan Pro-Wrestling when the two promotions began their partnership. After stealing the show at the first two Forbidden Door events and battling Chris Jericho at Wembley Stadium for All In: London 2023, Ospreay officially signed with AEW in November 2023 and began as a full-time roster member in March 2024. It became clear to everyone watching that Ospreay was going to be one of the top guys in AEW for a very long time.

Finally, we have the longest-tenured AEW star of the three and a legitimate day one guy – ‘Hangman’ Adam Page. What can be said about the now-two time AEW Men’s World Champion that hasn’t already been said about the “anxious millennial cowboy?” The story of ‘Hangman’ Page is almost the story of AEW, going through many ups-and-downs by forces outside and within. However, one thing was made perfectly clear after winning his second world title at All In: Texas 2025 – Page truly is AEW’s main character and the company’s current ace.

The photo above was taken the day of Forbidden Door 2025, which saw all three compete in wildly different matches. Page defended his title from longtime rival Maxwell Jacob Friedman, or MJF for short, while Swerve challenged Kazuchika Okada for the AEW Unified Championship and Will Ospreay teamed with Kenny Omega, Darby Allin, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Kota Ibushi to battle Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Gabe Kidd, and the Young Bucks in a Lights Out Steel Cage match. By then end of the night, though, only one of the three would be able to wrestle at the next episode of Dynamite.

Swerve and Ospreay both left Forbidden Door needing to go under the knife to address long-standing injuries. Swerve underwent surgery to fix a torn meniscus he had been dealing with since 2019. While Ospreay hoped to avoid surgery, he ultimately got it to address two herniated discs he was dealing with for nearly a year and were starting to press on his spine. Both surgeries were ultimately successful, but the two still have a ways to go until they are ready to be back in the ring.

Injuries aside, these three helped set the standard for 2025 by which the rest of the men’s roster would be judged against. Despite these lofty standards, it doesn’t appear to have been a problem.

Heading in to 2025, AEW already had one of the deepest and most-talented rosters in the modern wrestling industry. Jay White, Kenny Omega, MJF, Konosuke Takeshita, Kazuchika Okada, Mark Briscoe, Bandido, Brody King, The Hurt Syndicate, FTR, and Adam Copeland were among just a few of the names that populated this proverbial all star roster of talent spread over generations and coming from all over the world. AEW would go on to add names like Josh Alexander, Kevin Knight, ‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey, Hechicero, Ace Austin, and El Clon, better known by his former name Arez, and even brought back Andrade el Idolo after he was fired from WWE heading into the final months of 2025.

The depth is such that even Ring of Honor has benefitted, with Bandido having a banner year as RoH Men’s World Champion including two potential match of the year candidates during his reign. Rush and Sammy Guevara found each other on Ring of Honor and have given the two the best footing they’ve had under the AEW umbrella in a long time. Shane Taylor Promotions looks poised to close out the year strong, as well, as Lee Moriarty continues his record-setting reign as Pure Champion and Shane Taylor and the Infantry won the RoH Six-Man Tag Team Championship at Death Before Dishonor in August.

Somehow, in spite of several notable injuries, the roster is in such a good position that the TNT, World Tag Team, and World Trios titles have all received “shots in the arm” and look to end the year in stronger places than they were in at the start of the year.

Then there is the women’s roster, which has had one of the strongest years in the company’s history. Two women stood at centerstage for much of the year to help wave the flag of women’s wrestling – Mercedes Mone and ‘Timeless’ Toni Storm.

Who Run The World?

‘Timeless’ Toni Storm has been a mainstay at the top of AEW’s women’s division since becoming ‘Timeless’ in 2023 after the end of her second AEW Women’s World Title reign. She has been a constant source of “cinema” on AEW TV during that time, with her mentorship of and later rivalry with Mariah May being central for much of it. She would entertain crowds with her antics before getting into bloody wars in the ring, typically with the title on the line.

By contrast, Mercedes’ time in AEW has been one of the former-Sasha Banks chasing and making history in and out of the company. Mercedes officially debuted with AEW in March 2024 after making a cameo appearance at All In 2023 and months of rumors around her future. Since then, she has toured the world wrestling for AEW and various other promotions, ranging from major international promotions like CMLL in Mexico to random, small independent promotions across Europe. As of writing, she is poised to break Jade Cargill’s record as the longest-reigning TBS Champion in AEW history and is one title away from tying Ultimo Dragon’s ten simultaneous title reigns but has made it clear she wants to break that record.

The two would ultimately meet at All In: Texas for the AEW Women’s World Championship in one of the four biggest matches featured on the show. In what was a shock to no one, the two had an incredible match that ended with Toni retaining her world title and giving Mercedes her first loss in AEW.

Also on All In: Texas were the men’s and women’s Casino Gauntlet matches where the winners won a guaranteed world title match.

While most enjoyed the men’s, the women’s gauntlet match was met with widely positive feedback and helped reflect how far the division had come since AEW began in 2019. The women’s division had been a constant source of criticism in those early years for the relative lack of screen time afforded to the women and placement on the shows.

However, there were still bright spots in the division as Riho became AEW’s first Women’s World Champion and, along with Emi Sakura and future-world champion Hikaru Shida, give many Western viewers their first taste of joshi wrestling. Britt Baker, Kris Statlander, Penelope Ford, Nyla Rose, and few other independent standouts who hadn’t been signed by WWE also helped the division find its footing in those early days

The division would improve even more with the addition of talents like Toni Storm, Mercedes Mone, Athena, Thunder Rosa, Ruby Soho, Willow Nightingale, Jamie Hayter, Megan Bayne, Thekla, Deonna Purrazzo, and Alex Windsor. AEW was also able to cultivate a number of young talent such as Julia Hart, Skye Blue, Red Velvet, Billie Starkz, and Anna Jay who have become standout homegrown stars.

And there has been plenty of other accolades for the women’s division to celebrate beyond Toni and Mercedes’ accomplishments.

Athena has continued her record-setting, 1,000+ day reign as RoH Women’s World Champion while also winning the Casino Gauntlet in her home state of Texas and challenging for the AEW Women’s World Title at Forbidden Door. New champions are also set to be crowned as AEW has officially announced Women’s World Tag Team Championships, which the fans have demanded for some time, and the RoH Women’s Pure Championship.

2025 will also see the first women’s Blood and Guts match take place in Greensboro, North Carolina, though no teams have been announced at the time of writing.

Measuring Up

Looking at the roster in 2025, I personally believe this may be the single greatest roster of talent ever assembled in the history of professional wrestling. This isn’t meant as a slight against other truly great rosters such as Jim Crockett Promotion’s rosters during the 1980s, the famous “SmackDown Six” era, and NXT Black and Gold’s prime from late 2016 to early 2020, all of which were also populated with future hall of fame talent that would take being a booker or promoter of historically abysmal proportions to not draw crowds with.

Instead, it just appears to be a case of AEW coming along at the right in wrestling and proving it is here to stay that led to this wealth of talent. When one faction can have names like Kyle Fletcher, Konosuke Takeshita, Kazuchika Okada, and Andrade el Idolo, alone, it gives you an idea of just how deep the well of talent is in AEW.

It is a roster that truly embodies global wrestling and what it has to offer fans in 2025. On one show, a fan can see Jon Moxley and Darby Allin try to destroy each other in a wild no-DQ match, Bandido and Hechicero showcase true lucha libre, a Toni Storm promo which has taken on a life of its own, the best in Japanese joshi and puroreso, and technicians putting on a mat classic, and none of it feels out of place.

And new talent will only continue to filter in, as well, especially on the women’s side with the additions of the Women’s World Tag and RoH Women’s Pure titles. While I could sit here and provide a laundry list of names I’d want to see in the division, especially with new gold on the way, it wouldn’t be fair to anyone I’d leave out simply for space or even just forgetting their name. I can say that as of late it seems AEW may have eyes on some names I have been beating the drum for in recent months which has gotten me even more excited for what’s to come.

Get Used To It

AEW is here to stay, that is something that has become crystal clear over the last year. While numbers haven’t been made public, Tony Khan and reports from outlets such as Fightful have indicated AEW and WBD were very happy with AEW finally making it to HBO Max with simulcast for its weekly TV and more recently pay-per-view after the success of All Out.

Even if it won’t be number one over WWE, which honestly may never happen given just how big WWE has become, it doesn’t mean AEW will be any less of an enticing destination for wrestlers wanting to prove they have what it takes “where the best wrestle.” It almost guarantees anyone one the independents or working internationally who pride themselves on their ability between the ropes will likely end up in AEW. More importantly for the talent, it means another place to make good money and make a full-time living in an industry where it can be very tough to do so.

AEW hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down, either, as many independent standouts and a few notable former-WWE names have popped up across AEW and RoH TV over the course of 2025. Adam Priest, Aleah James, Lacey Lane, Jordan Oliver, Alex Zayne, and Man Like DeReiss are just a few of those names who have gotten a look at in that time and whenever names a brought back consistently, it is usually a good sign for their future. And considering some of the names, it could be a very good sign for AEW’s future as well.