Promote/demote a wrestler

[RedTwoster]

A simple premise - promote one wrestler, to take the place of another on the card. Don’t just name the wrestler you’d bump up the card, name the wrestler who you’d have them switch spots with. 

Here’s a few from me…

PROMOTE: Takeshita

DEMOTE: Okada

They’re focussing on the wrong member of the Callis family. Okada is described as the best big-match wrestler in the world. He certainly isn’t in AEW; but I think that’s a label you could apply to Takeshita. And while Okada is a one-note heel whose gimmick revolves around saying ‘bitch’, Takeshita has shown that he can portray a vicious, terrifying heel - like Rush without the baggage - or a likeable babyface. He’s versatile, talented and enormously underutilised.

PROMOTE: Dominik Mysterio

DEMOTE: Seth Rollins

Rollins is over, but I’d describe him as ‘Jey Uso over’ - there’s something about him people like (in this case, his theme song) and he’s unable to evolve much beyond that. And clearly he’s incapable of playing a top heel character in WWE, he’s exactly who he was as a babyface and has limited chemistry with his stable or Paul Heyman. Dom, on the other hand, has been one of the most over wrestlers in WWE for quite some time. He also likely has a strong babyface run in him, but they absolutely missed a trick by not having the guy win MITB before crowds started to like him and become a heel champion. I could have seen a Daniel Bryan-style rise for both him and Liv Morgan if they’d both been champions together.

PROMOTE: Chelsea Green

DEMOTE: Charlotte

Chelsea is great in her current role, but I absolutely believe she could be for WWE what Toni Storm has been for AEW. She’s a tremendous character, and would work extremely well as a comedic character that you could take seriously as an in-ring force. If you placed Chelsea in the role Charlotte is currently in, she’d be infinitely better at it. If she’d won the rumble, people would have been invested in the Wrestlemania match. If she was teaming with Alexa Bliss, she has the charisma to be a far more entertaining foil than monotonous Charlotte ever could. If she became world champion, she’d have one heck of an enjoyable title reign. They’re wasting her. 

[Statto]

Gonna do tag team rather than singles wrestlers, but...

Promote: Silver & Reynolds

Demote: Strong & O'Reilly

I just think Silver & Reynolds are bloody great and chronically underused on main AEW, really. They're fun in the ring, funny outside of it (Silver particularly), they've got good/interesting looks (IMO), Silver's perpetual motion firey comebacks are great and that combo move they do is a thing of beauty.

Strong and O'Reilly on the other hand... just a bit dull, IMO. Seen more than enough of them over the years. Particularly if Adam Cole is done in-ring, I'd have these two as "RoH legend" solid hands working with / putting over younger talent on RoH, but that's about their ceiling for me.

(I was originally gonna swap Silver & Reynolds with The Outrunners but now the Chop-stars thread has popped up those lads fit more there for me, if I get round to doing a post in there. They've redeemed themselves a little with some of the in-ring performances against FTR but I still think they're a one-note joke that's more than had its 5 minutes, and I don't see any scope in them as performers to develop beyond it. I'd have got shot as soon as they shit the bed against the Hurts on PPV.)

[RedTwoster]

26 minutes ago, Statto said:

Gonna do tag team rather than singles wrestlers, but...

Promote: Silver & Reynolds

Demote: Strong & O'Reilly

I just think Silver & Reynolds are bloody great and chronically underused on main AEW, really. They're fun in the ring, funny outside of it (Silver particularly), they've got good/interesting looks (IMO), Silver's perpetual motion firey comebacks are great and that combo move they do is a thing of beauty.

Strong and O'Reilly on the other hand... just a bit dull, IMO. Seen more than enough of them over the years. Particularly if Adam Cole is done in-ring, I'd have these two as "RoH legend" solid hands working with / putting over younger talent on RoH, but that's about their ceiling for me.

That’s a really good shout. There probably is value in Strong and O’Reilly in a purely developmental role, or as match producers. There are plenty of young wrestlers who would benefit from working with them. Doesn’t necessarily have to be on screen though…

[air_raid]

On 8/14/2025 at 1:32 PM, RedTwoster said:

DEMOTE: Charlotte

I think one half of the tag team champions is fine for Charlotte and already a considerable demotion from where she’s been for virtually her entire career on the main roster.

I’d promote Kairi, myself. They’ve fucked her about lots in her two tenures but I think it would only take one high profile singles match given a decent amount of time with either Ripley or Io for everyone to sit up and realise how good she actually is.