As All Elite Wrestling enters its fourth year, the company is coming off a hot streak that has helped bolster audience interest since Full Gear 2022. With last year being the hardest year for AEW thus far, in terms of booking, creative, and public image, the company is hoping to continue making repairs during the early days of 2023.
Looking back on the last 12 months, there are a number of stars from within AEW that underwhelmed in their performances, were booked poorly, or had a mix of the two, leading to them being considered some of the biggest disappointments of the year for All Elite Wrestling.
10 Wardlow
Featuring prominently in a feud with MJF in the first half of 2022, Wardlow seemed poised to be one of the featured stars in AEW last year. That would be the case sporadically, though looking at most of his year, it was a undeniable disappointment.
While Wardlow would have a meteoric rise as a singles star ahead of Double or Nothing, things would come crashing down following his TNT Championship victory. Tony Khan's flaws as a booker would be on full display through Wardlow's reign, as he would feel totally unimportant, would rarely defend the title, and would even feature in one of the worst AEW matches of 2022, in the 20-on-1 Handicap Match from AEW Road Rager.
9 Adam Cole
To no fault of his own, Adam Cole's 2022 was hampered greatly by a freak concussion during the Forbidden Door PPV between AEW and NJPW. Without that injury, there is a good chance Cole's overall year would have been a more positive one, though that was not the case. Instead, fans would see Cole dominate the main event scene in the first half of 2022, facing off against Hangman Page in an extended feud that split fans in their enjoyment.
Following his failure to capture the AEW World Championship on multiple occasions, Adam Cole would enter the Owen Hart Tournament, which he and his real-life partner, Britt Baker, would win. Cole would make one other appearance during the Summer, turning on the Young Bucks to set up a feud between The Elite and the former Undisputed Era, though it would never come to fruition.
8 Tay Melo
One of the women that seemed to be hurt the hardest in 2022 was none other than the Brazilian-based, Tay Melo. After breaking out as a singles star during 2020 and 2021, Tay would end her 2021 on a high note, challenging Britt Baker for the AEW Women's Championship at Full Gear and wrestling in one of the best AEW women's matches to date, in the Street Fight between TayJay and Penelope Ford & The Bunny.
In early 2022, Tay Melo would be paired with her future husband, Sammy Guevara in a move that would hurt her position in the women's division greatly. Tay would go from beloved babyface, to a heel with go-away heat from fans, while also wrestling much less. Eventually joining the Jericho Appreciation Society, Tay would wrestle more in the second half of the year, though lacking much to sink her teeth into.
7 Sammy Guevara
Despite being labeled as one of AEW's Four Pillars, Sammy Guevara has not felt like one in some time. Spending the early days of 2022 feuding with Cody Rhodes over the TNT Championship in convoluted fashion, Guevara would ultimately send Rhodes packing to WWE, defeating him in a ladder match to regain the belt, before being paired with Tay Melo on-screen in a role that turned both into the most hated heels in AEW.
Much of Sammy's first portion of 2022 would be spent in a horrible feud with Scorpio Sky, Ethan Page, Dan Lambert, Paige VanZant, and Frankie Kazarian, that would see the TNT Championship become the worst belt in the company. Sammy would begin to rebound in late 2022 thanks to strong matches against Bryan Danielson and Jon Moxley, though he has a lot of ground to cover in 2023 to raise his stock again.
6 Mercedes Martinez
Debuting in AEW in late 2021, Mercedes Martinez has been a weird signing for AEW's women's division. Rarely delivering great matches as of late, Martinez is not a name that resonates with the audience either, leading to her being a weird fixture of the division. She would defeat Deonna Purrazzo to become ROH Women's Champion in a rare women's Dynamite main event, though it would be a "just okay" match.
She would barely be present on TV for her feud with Serena Deeb, then would get injured and disappear for several months, before returning and beginning a feud that saw her lose the ROH Women's belt to Athena in a solid match. It was a weird year for Martinez, and it is hard to imagine her having a better 2023.
5 Andrade El Idolo
2022 ended up being a very strange year for Andrade El Idolo. He would buy out the Hardy Family Office before randomly forming a new faction that only sort-of merged with the AFO, as he and Rush established LFI in AEW. They would bring in Dragon Lee, only to turn on him, before Andrade would be suspended following an interview where he teased wanting to go to WWE and a backstage conflict between him and Sammy Guevara.
With Andrade sharing that he was injured during the Summer, his suspension has come into question. While it remains to be seen if he even wants to be in AEW, or if he was trolling, 2023 should hopefully clear things up with Andrade either departing the company and heading back to WWE or returning to action in AEW, working alongside Preston Vance, Rush, and Dralistico as LFI.
4 Anna Jay
Becoming one of the stars of AEW's women's division in 2021, many fans would expect a big year for Anna Jay in 2022. This would fail to become reality, as Jay would seem to regress as a wrestler during the year. Wrestling sloppily, most of Anna Jay's matches in 2022 were panned by fans, with her PPV bout against Jade Cargill at Double or Nothing being one of the worst of the year.
As she heads into 2023, Anna Jay has a lot of work to get back to where she was prior to her underwhelming 2022 within All Elite Wrestling's women's division.
3 Miro
The name that has been tossed around the most in terms of fans being upset with Tony Khan's booking in 2022 has to be Miro. After having one of the more memorable reigns with the TNT Championship in 2021, Miro would barely be a factor in the company during 2022. While fans blamed Tony Khan initially, reports would surface that Khan had pitched Miro several ideas, but The Redeemer shot them all down.
With pitches ranging from going to the finals of the AEW World Title Eliminator to feuding with Powerhouse Hobbs, the reports did not paint Miro in a good light, something that would happen again when he targets Dave Meltzer online, asking Meltzer why he wasn't booked better in early 2022. Many fans pointed to Miro's own interview he gave where he said he was injured at the time, leading to a portion of fans turning on the former beloved star.
2 Thunder Rosa
Despite becoming AEW Women's World Champion in 2022, Thunder Rosa's year would be an underwhelming one for many fans. First facing Britt Baker at AEW Revolution, which many saw as her coronation, Rosa's championship win would be delayed until the week after in a rematch that underdelivered. From there, Rosa would barely feature on TV despite being champion, thanks in part to wrestling while injured.
Regardless of her injuries stacking up, Rosa would be horribly booked and would deliver some of the worst promos of a main event star in 2022. She would ultimately vanish from TV during the summer, not vacating her belt until after Full Gear 2022, something that hurt AEW quite a bit as well as her reign.
1 Jeff Hardy
Undeniably the most disappointing wrestler in AEW during 2022 would be Jeff Hardy. After leaving WWE in controversial fashion, Hardy would later show up in AEW during the first half of 2022. Out of the gate, Jeff would seem rejuvenated, performing spectacular stunts and working with younger stars, though things would take a turn for the worse.
At Double or Nothing, Matt and Jeff would take on The Young Bucks in a match that saw Jeff totally out of it for 90% of the affair. Following this, weeks later, Jeff would be arrested for yet another DUI, leading to his suspension from AEW before entering rehab. While Jeff Hardy attempts to defeat his demons once again, it just was not a good year for the Charismatic Enigma, especially in his first year with the company.