AEW RISING AND FADING STARS: Powerhouse Hobbs making a big move, The Rascalz and Oliver & Price fortify a strong tag division

Welcome everyone!

Another week of AEW is in the books. We had a fun AEW World Title match on AEW television last week, before the champ MJF then defended the title at an independent show. Followed by an AEW Trios Title change on Collision where Hangman & Jet Speed won the titles.

While I could go back to MJF or “Hangman” Adam Page being in my top spot, I thought I would do something a little different.

We have some new guys who have signed with AEW and a big guy leaving AEW. I thought I would focus on them this week. Maybe I can give some information for you to get to know the new additions better while looking back on the one that’s leaving.

RISING STAR OF THE WEEK

The Rascalz – Desmond Xavier, Zachary Wentz, and Marlon Reed

I would guess a lot of you know most of these guys. All three of them have been on TNA television recently and in prior years. Then two out of the three of them spent time on NXT television as well.

Do you know and enjoy the PWG in-ring style? If the answer is yes, then these guys are going to quickly become favorites of yours. The pairing of Desmond Xavier & Zach Wentz actually won the PWG Tag Titles in 2018 defeating Jeff Cobb & Matt Riddle and The Young Bucks. They followed that win up by defeating a list of known teams. First the Young Bucks, then the Lucha Bros., followed by LAX (Santana & Ortiz) and the Best Friends.

So the one thing they should do in AEW is inject another tag team that can really go in the ring. If you read this column each week, you know I am an advocate for tag team wrestling and right now the division is stacked. Look at this list of teams active right now:

• FTR – Current AEW Tag Champs
• The Young Bucks
• Brodido (They have not officially broken up)
• Jetspeed
• Gates of Agony
• Bang Bang Gang (Austin Gunn & Juice Robinson)
• Davis & Doyle
• Private Party (Yup, they still work here)

Those are just the current teams that have held or at least challenged for the AEW World Tag Titles. It doesn’t have lower end guys, but that’s eight legit teams, if you include the Rascalz, that the division could revolve around. Not to mention the teams on the roster that could be used to lose on television thus building up other teams.

I say all of that to say The Rascalz should be a great addition to the AEW Tag Team Division and Trios Division. They are smaller guys, but that’s doesn’t matter in AEW and they should be great babyfaces who battle from underneath.

1st Runner Up – Jordan Oliver & Alec Price

“Bustah & the Brain” have been an exciting tag team on the independent scene the last year or so. Price is the Bustah and Oliver is the Brain and together they are 2x GCW tag champs.

Alec Price just wrestled MJF for the AEW World Title on an independent show for Limitless Wrestling this past weekend, losing in the main event of the show to MJF. After the match, both Price and Oliver were offered AEW contracts. Admittedly I didn’t know anything about Price prior to the event, but he looked good against MJF.

Oliver is a different story. I’ve been watching him grow up over the last ten years, seeing him constantly show up on the independent scene. If you know him you most likely know his runs in MLW or GCW. He formed the “East-West Express” with current AEW wrestler Nick Wayne while in GCW and they won the tag titles there. Oliver was also a part of a stable with current Rascalz member Marlon Reed while in MLW called “Young, Dumb, and Broke (YDNB).” Both just played young brash heel characters which they both played well.

Oliver had a really bad injury that kept him out of action for almost a year, but he has re-established himself since his return. In fact his first match back in GCW after nine months was the duo Oliver & Price winning the GCW Tag Titles for his he first time together.

I say all of this to say that if Oliver & Price are going to be a team going forward, we have just one more team to add to a stacked tag division. If they want to seperate them, then I could see Oliver going back with Nick Wayne because those two being young punk heels would be fun.

ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…

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FADING STAR OF THE WEEK

Powerhouse Hobbs

Let me start by saying this is not a knock on Powerhouse Hobbs because he’s leaving AEW. In fact, this jump is the first one that feels like we are in the ’90s again and guys are jumping to see if the grass is greener, as they say. Will Powerhouse be to AEW what Chris Jericho was to WCW? Which is to say, a guy who got away?

Any way you cut it, Hobbs has not progressed to the next level while in AEW despite being a popular guy on the roster. One reason he never got to the next level, in my opinion, is lack of ring time. The fact there are no house shows, and only a few AEW TV regulars do independent shows, means someone in AEW is wrestling just a few times a month. Which is great for their health, but not for their growth as a performer.

Much like actors, wrestlers need to work to continue to get better at their craft. For every Edward Norton, a guy who was amazing from his first role, there are thousands of actors who have been in dozens of shows or movies and just can’t act.

Non of this is to say that Hobbs is a Norton or that Hobbs is terrible. No, this is about progression. Hobbs is basically the same guy who showed up on AEW Dark years ago. The one difference is he was called Will then and is called Powerhouse now. Otherwise, he’s the exact same wrestler. Big move, no sell of your move, snarl, straps down, big move. That’s it, and in 2026 AEW that means you will reach a ceiling.

All of that is to say that I think WWE and NXT can help Hobbs way more than AEW right now. AEW lacks a dedicated place for guys to just work regularly or train regularly. AEW would be smart to buy a small promotion that runs a show, not taped before or after Dynamite, on YouTube each week to have their guys go to get reps. Oh wait, isn’t that what ROH should be?

Before I get off on a rant about ROH, let’s circle back to Hobbs. I am curious to see how Hobbs does in WWE. He isn’t “turnkey” like a Ricky Starks or Ethan Page. Hobbs needs some work to grow and hopefully he gets it there.