5 former AEW stars now thriving in WWE in 2025

WWE is home to many former AEW stars, and vice versa. Over the years, many good stars from either side have ended up switching places, and they have had varying levels of success.

Names like Cody Rhodes and CM Punk come to mind. Cody has cemented himself as one of the biggest stars in WWE and rightly so. He won the Royal Rumble twice and has been in the last three main events at WrestleMania.

Much like Cody Rhodes, a few other stars are also enjoying a new lease of life after leaving AEW. In this article, we will take a look at some names that are now thriving in World Wrestling Entertainment.

#5. Penta is thriving in WWE

Penta made his debut on the second RAW episode of 2025. He took on Chad Gable and came out on top. He has since been wildly popular among the fans. He has taken on many stars since then and established himself in the midcard.

He even had his first WrestleMania match for the Intercontinental title, a clear sign of his progress since moving to WWE.

#4. Rey Fenix

Rey Fenix and AEW had a very messy separation. Toward the end of his time there, there was clear bad blood between him and the management, and it all played out very poorly in front of the public and on social media.

However, Fenix got his wish to move to the World Wrestling Entertainment and debuted on April 4 on SmackDown. Like his brother Penta, Fenix wrestled at WrestleMania, where he took on El Grande Americano.

#3. Ethan Page

Ethan Page was once hailed as the future of AEW. However, he left the company after wrestling his final match in December 2023 against Kenny Omega. He was not used much, and he eventually moved to WWE.

He joined NXT and immediately got pushed as a top star. He has also gone on to win the NXT Championship once and is one of their leading stars. It is only a matter of time before he moves to the main roster.

#2. Ricky Saints

The case of Ricky Saints is a bizarre one. He was clearly a top name in AEW and was even given a lot of title runs. He was pushed as a heel and had feuds with the likes of CM Punk and Adam Copeland.

However, he lost favor under Tony Khan and was put on the sidelines for over a year. He later moved to WWE and is an established NXT name like Ethan Page.

#1. Jade Cargill

Like Ethan Page and Ricky Saints, Jade Cargill was also once touted as the future of AEW. She was only of the longest-reigning TBS Champions of all time. It felt like it was only a matter of time before she would win the AEW Women’s Championship.

However, things changed, and she fell out of favor. Since moving to WWE, she has been pushed as a top star. She has held the tag team titles and also fought at WrestleMania.