ALL ELITE ASSESSMENT – Kyle Fletcher: His background, his journey, his future, and a verdict on his destiny

Another All Elite Assessment and another newsworthy week in the world of All Elite. Away from the controversy, neck braces, and tribalism, it’s time to assess another AEW talent and this week the wheel spins to highlight…

Kyle Fletcher

Background

Sydney, Australia born Kyle Fletcher is another of AEW’s outstanding young talents. A unique combination of height, speed, and groundwork, Fletcher’s stock is on the rise, but AEW must be careful to protect his magnetic aura.

Despite its distance from the Western wrestling industry, Australia has become a hotbed of fresh, young talent in the last decade. Stars such as Rhea Ripley, Grayson Waller, Buddy Matthews, and Fletcher have journey thousands of miles to make a name for themselves away from their homeland. Fletcher traversed a familiar path by gaining his initial training in his home country before travelling to the popular UK independent scene in the late 2010s.

It was in the UK that Fletcher would team with fellow Antipodean Mark Davis. The newly christened Aussie Open would begin working for popular British independent RevPro and catch the eye of RevPro’s frequent collaborator NJPW. Despite debuting at the inaugural NJPW’s Royal Quest event in London, England the tag team’s momentum would be halted by the COVID 19 pandemic which crippled the independent scene in early 2020.

Once international travel stabilized in early 2021, Aussie Open were able to return to RevPro bookings. The impressive tandem would soon form an alliance with the rapidly rising Will Ospreay and go on to form the initially heel United Empire stable. Success in NJPW and sister company New Japan Strong would follow with a stunning match opposite NJPW’s Tag Team Champions FTR at Royal Quest 2022 being a particular highlight. The FTR loss would not linger for long as Aussie Open would eventually capture the IWGP Tag Team Titles before having a vacate the titles mere months later due to a Mark Davis injury.

Journey

Much like other NJPW originated talent, Fletcher debuted on AEW television sporadically before officially signed on the dotted line. Initially seen on screen as backup to stablemate Ospreay in his battle against Orange Cassidy, Fletcher would join his United Empire cohorts in battle with the Best Friends.

Further association with Ospreay would follow as the trio of Aussie Open and the “Aerial Assassin” entered the AEW Trios tournament to crown the inaugral champions. Despite defeating Death Triangle, United Empire fell to The Elite in the semi finals and thus exited the competition. Aussie Open would then be afforded several tag team opportunities but continue to be unsuccessful in their quest for gold. Defeats in both the Revolution and a Casino Tag Team Battle Royale’s posited the team as one with potential but not seen by management as the team of the moment.

Success on the newly purchased ROH but be easier to come by for the dynamic duo. Victory at Death before Dishonor 2023 meant that Aussie Open once again held tag team gold. The team defended the straps several times on AEW television before unceremoniously losing the titles at Wembley Stadium on the All In pre-show against MJF and Adam Cole. Aussie Open would then resume their ongoing feud with FTR before another injury to Davis would once again derail the team’s momentum.

The silver lining to another unfortunate injury to Davis was the potential for Fletcher to break away into singles competition. Although Fletcher would fall to defeat opposite Kanosuke Takeshita on an Oct. 28 Rampage his performance would catch the eye of manager Don Callis. The “Invisible Hand” would welcome Fletcher into his Don Callis Family stable and stability would follow. Another ROH Title would follow but this time in the singles ranks as Fletcher is the current ROH World Television Champion for the streaming brand.

Future

AEW has to be very careful with Kyle Fletcher moving forward. The danger of Fletcher falling into the “good hand, perennial loser” tag is ever growing. All Elite has the unfortunate reputation amongst some of seeing early potential in a young star before squandering it by booking said star into consecutive television losses. Names such as Daniel Garcia, Action Andretti, Wheeler Yuta, Dante Martin, and stablemate Takeshita have all stuttered after impressive starts.

Fletcher is in a reasonable position as part of the Callis Family but is often booked as the fall guy of the group in tag and multi-man matches. Repetitive losses have led to audience apathy for many a young prospect and Fletcher could be next if the current booking pattern continues. The April 24 Dynamite title eliminator against new AEW Heavyweight Champion Swerve Strickland was a great showcase for the Australian star but again meant a high profile loss.

So how to arrest the continuing perception? Perhaps Fletcher’s ongoing relationship with stablemate Will Ospreay is the key. It is only a matter of time until Ospreay breaks away from the Callis-led group and Fletcher could follow. With the imminent return of tag partner Davis, Aussie Open and Ospreay could face Takeshita, Hobbs and a replacement member in a series of tag matches. Alternatively, Fletcher could remain with the Callis Family and provide a stellar opponent for Ospreay. The drawback the heel approach is that it means further defeats against the red hot Brit.

With new champions in situ, the AEW tag team scene could again be on the rise. A reunited Aussie Open (on the face side of the ledger) could climb the ladder to an eventual PPV encounter with The Young Bucks, one which would be sure to to be an exciting and innovative clash. Maybe a tag team run for Fletcher in the remainder of 2024 would help protect him for repeated singles losses. With Fletcher’s reputation as a winner growing again he could transfer the audience goodwill into another singles run in 2025. At the age of 25 time is certainly on Fletcher’s side.

Verdict

Kyle Fletcher has huge potential and is already a credible in-ring talent. Though clearly skilled as part of a tag team, I see Fletcher’s future as a strong singles act. Careful booking and presentation is key though in order to avoid squandering yet another break out star.