5 former WWE stars AEW should have signed but didn't

#2 Former WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champion Erik Rowan

Much of Rowan's WWE career was spent teaming up with the late Brodie Lee and he made an AEW appearance on the latter's memorial show, creating an emotional moment while letting Chris Jericho his contempt for the concept of copyright.

The Dark Order is loved by the majority of AEW fans, and Rowan will easily fit into the group once led by his longtime tag team partner. However, AEW has never tried to expand Rowan's involvement beyond that one-off appearance.

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#1 Former WWE Intercontinental Champion Zack Ryder has already appeared on AEW several times

Matthew Cardona has become a superstar in the professional wrestling industry. As Zack Ryder, he was unbelievably popular amongst WWE fans. The company never believed in him and he achieved little success beyond a memorable and deserving Wrestlemania moment.

However, no one expected Cardona to do a Terry Funk and become a star of hardcore wrestling. Cardona excelled in GCW deathmatches and managed to familiarize the promotion to a considerable amount of professional wrestling fans.

Cardona has made several appearances for AEW, but he has never been signed by the promotion.

Meanwhile, he continues to enrage GCW fans with his attempts to bring sports entertainment into the violent zone.