While the AEW men’s roster has grown a lot during the past year, the same can’t be said for the women’s division. Overall, the AEW women’s division has suffered from a lack of screen-time and poor creative booking. This has left the division feeling stale, even though the roster has some real talent.
Some new faces could help freshen up the division, and add some more depth to the division as a whole. This is a list of 10 women who, at the time of writing this, are not signed to any major company and would be incredible gets for AEW.
10 Athena
Athen is likely better known as Ember Moon. She worked for WWE from 2015 to 2021, where she was NXT Women’s Champion and NXT Women’s Tag Team Champion alongside Shotzi Blackheart. Though she is a phenomenal in-ring performer, Athena struggled with cutting WWE-style promos. Fortunately, AEW has a much more wrestling-centric show that suits Athena’s strengths.
Athena has been wrestling since 2007 and therefore brings a lot of experience to a fairly young roster. At just 33 years old, Athena has a lot of potential and would be a wise addition to AEW.
9 Megan Bayne
At just 23 years old, Megan Bayne already carries herself like a star. She has an incredible presentation to her; she calls herself the Megasus and the Greek Goddess, and her gimmick is naturally inspired by Greek mythology.
Megan Bayne has had a few appearances on AEW Dark against Big Swole, Nyla Rose, and Thunder Rosa. Though she’s recovering from an injury right now, she would be an incredible addition to the AEW roster once she’s fully healed. She has the potential to be a pillar of the women’s division (or maybe a Greek column?).
8 Queen Aminata
Queen Aminata draws eyes like honey draws flies. She dons herself in gold attire fit for a queen and impresses her audience as soon as she enters a room. She’s similar to Megan Bayne in the sense that her presentation is a major strong suit of hers.
She’s only been wrestling for about 4 years, which means that in terms of her potential, Queen Aminata is only scratching the surface. AEW would be smart to add this queen to their ranks.
7 Blair Onyx
The Russian Spider Blair Onyx is another young, up-and-coming star. She’s a former gymnast trained by Seth Rollins and Marek Brave. Given her background, it follows that much of her move set is based around her gymnastic and acrobatic ability, which makes her style very enthralling.
AEW also seems to embrace wrestlers on the spooky side, which means that Onyx would fit right in. Perhaps she could be a tag team partner for Abadon or a recruit for Malakai’s House of Black.
6 The Sea Stars
AEW likes to boast that they have the strongest tag team division in the world, and they have an incredibly strong case. However, they’ve neglected to build their women’s tag division. This isn’t an issue unique to AEW, but it certainly provides a blemish on their record as a company that values tag team wrestling.
What better way to build their women’s tag division than by bringing in one of the best independent women’s tag teams out there? Sisters Ashley Vox and Delmi Exo, known together as the Sea Stars, have been wrestling together since 2015. They’re full of fun, contagious energy that’s bound to get over with the AEW faithful.
5 King Kota
King Kota, formerly known as Dakota Kai in NXT, was one of the most underutilized stars to ever work in WWE. Despite having one of the best heel turns in NXT history, an impressive resume of international experience, and a strong, strike-based wrestling style, WWE never pulled the trigger on Kota.
This is an incredible fumble on their part; King Kota has the potential to be one of the best women’s wrestlers in the world. AEW would be smart to pick her up as soon as they can.
4 Edith Surreal
Edith Surreal carries herself with a sense of elegance and grace that most pro wrestlers could only dream of having. She has a great handle on her aesthetic, from her beautiful masks to her merch website. However, Surreal is much more than a pretty face; she is an incredible technical wrestler, and though she’s elegant, she’s not afraid to brawl when she needs to.
Larger-than-life personalities tend to thrive in AEW; the company allows them to be themselves, rather than rework their gimmick to appeal to a writer’s room. AEW would be an ideal stage for Surreal to shine.
3 Candice LeRae
By any and all sense of logic, Candice LeRae should go to AEW. Like Kota, Candice LeRae spent years in NXT without getting the push she deserves. Despite putting on some of the best women’s matches in NXT history, LeRae was never given a championship reign.
In addition to having some incredible wrestling talent, heart, and grit, LeRae also has a lot of history with some of AEW’s EVPs.
She and the Young Bucks have been through some incredibly bloody wars against each other, and have built up a lot of mutual respect. It’s very likely that the Bucks will want to bring their old rival to their promotion. Maybe she’ll even bring her husband along.
2 Trish Adora
AEW has already seen a little bit of the Afro-Punk, Trish Adora; she’s appeared on a few episodes of AEW: Dark and an episode of Rampage. However, AEW has barely scratched the surface in terms of what Trish Adora brings to the table. Firstly, she’s an incredibly tough woman; she’s served 8 years in the US Army and is a Wounded Warrior Project alumn. I
In the ring, Trish Adora is a hard-hitter who’s put countless challengers down with her signature Lariat Tubman.
1 Willow Nightingale
Few wrestlers are as boisterous and naturally charismatic as Willow Nightingale. She has an infectious smile that you can’t help but fall in love with. Nightingale has made some appearances in AEW so far, but as of right now, hasn’t officially signed a contract with the company.
Given her popularity among AEW fans, especially live crowds, it would be a very smart move for AEW to sign Nightingale to a full-time contract as soon as they can.