AEW's 10 Biggest Failed Projects Of 2023, Ranked

AEW might have a lot of established names such as Chris Jericho and Kenny Omega who are performing at the highest level, but the company also has a lot of young talent. Tony Khan has made it his mission to try and bring in fresh talent to create long-term projects that he can work on and develop into the stars of the future.

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That has led to some great success stories over the years from MJF to Britt Baker. Throughout 2023, AEW has had several other projects that they have been working on, and while there is still plenty of time in the year to go, some simply haven't been working as well as expected. Meanwhile, there are certain established names AEW has tried to push that equally haven't worked.

10 Powerhouse Hobbs

Powerhouse Hobbs is someone that has plenty of potential as an in-ring talent, but his booking hasn't allowed him to thrive properly. In 2023 the company put focus on him, giving him a run with the TNT Championship while putting him alongside QT Marshall and his QTV faction.

This could've led to a lengthy run where he showcased his dominance, but instead, AEW opted to continue to hot potato the title. That decision didn't benefit him and hurt the project of his push.

9 The Outcasts

Bringing in Saraya was a major deal for AEW, and it seemed like the company had a big plan for her by creating The Outcasts to run roughshod over the women's division. This project started positively but then ultimately went nowhere, benefiting nobody as the women's division remains in the same spot.

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Fans felt it was building to a big PPV match, potentially inside Blood & Guts, but instead, nothing has happened. The storyline ended up being dropped and rather than enhancing the women's division this faction has just gone around in circles.

8 Jade Cargill

Jade Cargill is a project that Tony Khan seemed to work hard on, but lacked any type of long-term idea for. She was given a lengthy undefeated streak, but while that was fun at the start it quickly became pointless as Cargill was never given any important rivalries that fans could recall.

The fact her defeat to Kris Statlander was followed up by her disappearing from television completely only enhanced the fact that things simply didn't work. While there is still potential there, this needs a lot of work to get back on track.

7 Jeff Hardy

Jeff Hardy is a veteran of the wrestling business which people are well aware of at this point, but he has dealt with a lot of difficulties in his private life since joining AEW. This meant that Tony Khan had to effectively hit the restart button with him when his suspension was finished.

However, the magic seems to be gone for Hardy at this point. While he's a legend who will always get good responses, the electric atmosphere is no longer there for Hardy, and his in-ring performances have been lacking.

6 Taya Valkyrie

Taya Valkyrie is a talented wrestler who has thrived around the world over the years, and adding her to the AEW women's division seemed to be an interesting idea. It could've led to a lot of exciting matches but instead her booking has been a disaster, and the buzz surrounding her is now gone.

People wanted her to be pushed into exciting storylines to showcase her talent, but that hasn't happend. Valkyrie has been pushed quickly several times into title shots only to lose and then restart the cycle, with her star power diminishing each time.

5 Four Pillar Storyline

A big project Tony Khan pushed heading into the 2023 Double Or Nothing event was for the 'four pillars' of the company all to be pushed into a fatal four way for the AEW World Championship. While the match took place and was enjoyable, the project of getting all four men to feel like main event stars failed.

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While MJF is undoubtedly a headline star for the company, the same cannot be said for Sammy Guevara, Darby Allin, or Jack Perry. All four are talented workers, but those three simply aren't at that level right now, and that's something that shone through in this angle.

4 Wardlow

Wardlow has been a project for Tony Khan from the moment he signed with the company, and there have been moments where it seemed like he was going to be a major star. Seeing him squash MJF seemingly set him up for big things, yet the creative he has been given since has been extremely disappointing.

2023 has been his poorest year yet with the company, even though he was given the TNT Championship. His feud against Samoa Joe didn't get over, and the same can be said for his work against Powerhouse Hobbs. It has led to him being completely off television for several months and it has become clear this project has hit a halt.

3 Action Andretti

Action Andretti is someone who came out of nowhere in AEW and was given a monumental victory over Chris Jericho. He defeated the veteran clean on his debut, and it was clear that he was the latest project for Tony Khan at that time as he was given further opportunities to work with Jericho.

However, while he got the rub with that win to put himself on the map, since then he has struggled to make much of an impact. He has been thrown into random tag matches and hasn't quite kicked on in the manner people expected he would.

2 Parker Boudreaux

Parker Boudreaux is someone that wrestling fans have been buzzing about for a long time due to the fact he had a similar look to Brock Lesnar, but things haven't panned out for him. AEW snapped him up as soon as he was released by WWE, and after a brief run with Ari Daivari, he was moved to work with Swerve Strickland.

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The idea was that he'd be the heater for Strickland, causing problems on the outside which seemed like a good role. However, things didn't pan out positively, and the project has flopped.

1 Trench

Out of all the projects that have taken place so far in 2023 it's hard to see any as a bigger failure than Trench. He was randomly brought in with very little explanation with the idea that he was going to be a heater for Swerve Strickland, but that partnership fell flat fast.

It was obvious that he wasn't connecting with fans and the lack of explanation as to who he was didn't help him. Trench made no impact and then ended up not having his contract extended, bringing an immediate end to a very forgettable run with the company.