When AEW launched, it recruited many talents from the independents. That gave it a roster with athleticism to spare, but not much size. Among his many hot takes, Jim Cornette has taken to dubbing the company "All Petite Wrestling" to mock the smaller stature of most of its wrestlers.
AEW still features diminutive wrestlers regularly, to the disgust of many size-obsessed traditionalists. But it has also taken steps to address its shortcomings in the big man department since the premiere episode of Dynamite, when Jake Hager joined the company. The company has steadily added more big men to its roster since. They've mostly wrestled, and lost, to AEW's biggest stars, though a recent episode of Dynamite finally broke that trend.
On the June 24 episode of Dynamite, the company's first big man, Luchasaurus, took on Wardlow in AEW's first ever Lumberjack Match. It was also the first battle of big men in the promotion's history. Both men used the stipulation to showcase their brand of big man offense.
Wardlow used the extra bodies at ringside to show off his power, tossing Brandon Cutler and Marko Stunt off the stage onto the throng of lumberjacks below. Not to be outdone, Luchasaurus showed off his striking ability and agility when he spin kicked Wardlow off the stage and then followed him with an incredible shooting star press.
Wardlow ultimately won the match, taking advantage of a distraction by his boss, MJF, to hit Luchasaurus with a low blow and then finish him off with an F5. The finish furthered the feud between MJF, Wardlow, and the Jurassic Express, setting up a tag match for the first night of Fyter Fest.
Outside of advancing the ongoing story lines, the match was the first proof of concept that AEW could do a heavyweight slugfest. It's the kind of match its Wednesday Night rivals NXT has been pulling off for months with the Keith Lee/Dominik Dijakovic feud. It's something AEW's been missing since its inception, but is finally in a position to do something about.
While the company missed out on the Karrion Kross sweepstakes when he signed with NXT, AEW has picked up three prized free agent big men in recent months. Lance Archer, Brodie Lee, and Brian Cage have all been quality acquisitions for any company, but were especially crucial to AEW's attempts to beef up its roster.
Lee and Archer are similar to Luchasaurus, as they're tall but still mobile enough to pull of some impressively agile moves. At 6 feet tall Brian Cage is shorter than Archer or Lee, making him closer to Wardlow. His combination of high impact power moves and agility make him the closest thing AEW has to matching Keith Lee's skillset. Cage has been relying on his power moves thus far in AEW, but he can fly with the best of them when necessary.
While it has increased its supply of big men recently, it will be difficult to book more matches between them as long as Luchasaurus is the only babyface. Wardlow is likely to become a babyface once his partnership with MJF ends and Cage has become a fan favorite everywhere he's worked, although neither development is likely to happen any time soon. The idea of Lee, Hager, or Archer becoming a good guy is practically inconceivable at this point.
The good thing about Luchasaurus being part of a team is that his feuds with the other big men can be set up via AEW's specialty, tag team matches. A Hager feud was teased when Jungle Boy was working with Chris Jericho, and that could easily be rekindled when the Jurassic Express's feud with MJF and Wardlow runs its course. It's also easy to see the Express beefing with the Dark Order as a unit, given that they once offered Stunt membership, leading to a singles match between Lee and Luchasaurus.
The bright side to Luchasaurus being the only babyface big man on the roster at the moment -- outside of the big fish in a small pond that is player/coach Billy Gunn -- is that it could help him become a legitimate singles star. He's been a greet complement to his tag partners in the Express and works well at cleaning house after Jungle Boy or Stunt make the hot tag. He has the tools to become a big star on his own, and wins over some of the other big men in AEW would help get him more over with the fans than he already is. At the very least, he could become AEW's version of Kane, a dependable big man who can be slotted into the main event as needed.
AEW will likely continue to aggressively court hosses for its stable. Jim Ross has expressed interest in adding Davey Boy Smith Jr., who is currently signed to MLW, to the roster. He'd be a good get for AEW, with or without his tag team partner Brian Pillman Jr. Cornette has talked up Smith's co-worker, Jacob Fatu, as a monster heel fit for a major promotion and it'd be hard to believe he's not on AEW's radar, too. ROH's Brody King would also be a good pick up should he become available, and not just because it would facilitate a Brody vs. Brodie match.
As AEW grows, it will continue to diversify its roster. Hard hitting big man matches should become as much of a part of its programming as tag team wrestling and Cody's bloody southern wrestling throwbacks. Their harshest critics will still probably seethe over the fact that wrestlers like Stunt and Riho are given a national platform, but fans who enjoy some clubbering along with their high spots will benefit from AEW adding some size to its roster. It will likely never be a big man territory, but it won't be all petite, either.