For as many wrestlers who thrived throughout 2024, there were several others in both WWE and All Elite Wrestling who failed to find their footing and floundered as a result.

In the case of some, 2024 was a significant step backward from their prosperous 2023, and 2025 should be a year of redemption for them.

There's any number of ways these struggling competitors can bounce back, but better creative direction is first and foremost. The powers that be at WWE and AEW have showcased their fair share of fresh faces in the past year, but there are always those who slip through the cracks for one reason or another.

A change of scenery can also be effective when it comes to getting more opportunities, whether that be switching shows from Raw to SmackDown or jumping ship to a new company entirely.

WWE and AEW aren't expected to slow down with talent acquisition in 2025, making it all the more difficult for members of the current rosters to stand out and build momentum.

These are the seven stars who desperately need to rebound in 2025.

Adam Cole

Excitement surrounded Adam Cole's long-awaited return to AEW TV in October, only for the rekindling of his rivalry with MJF to fall flat.

At one point in 2023, their storyline was the hottest in all of AEW. Between MJF's infrequent appearances this past year and Cole's subpar character work, they weren't able to recapture that same magic.

They finally faced off one-on-one at Worlds End last weekend, and despite coming up short, Cole stood tall afterward with his reunited Undisputed Kingdom buddies. Ultimately, it felt as if nothing was accomplished and Cole was no better off than he was previously.

If anything, he's cooled off considerably from where he was when he arrived in AEW three years ago and needs a boost in the worst way.

He's been both a babyface and a heel throughout his tenure with the promotion, so going back to being a villain isn't the answer. Rather, he'd benefit greatly from branching out on his own for a change, away from the Undisputed Kingdom, The Elite and all of his old allies and adversaries.

That was what worked best for him in the first half of 2023, and it would serve him well to follow that same formula at the onset of 2025.

Chad Gable

Following his stellar series of matches with Gunther over the Intercontinental Championship in the fall of 2023, many expected Chad Gable to be the one to dethrone The Ring General at WrestleMania 40.

That honor instead went to Sami Zayn, and although that gave Gable a perfect storyline reason to turn heel immediately after the event and feud with the new champ, he was unsuccessful in every opportunity he had at the title.

The decision to have him ditch Alpha Academy for American Made looked promising on paper, but it hasn't amounted to much for him other than a lengthy losing streak so far. He'll score the occasional win, but he tends to lose whenever it matters most, including any time he and the rest of the group waged war with The Wyatt Sicks in 2024.

The best thing WWE can do with the Olympian going forward would be to shift American Made to SmackDown and start the year fresh on Friday nights. The move would provide him with a fresh batch of opponents to work with and a new title to target in the United States Championship.

Gable has so much left to offer and remains grossly underutilized in his current role.

Wardlow

For as well-documented as Wardlow's woes in AEW have been, it's still surreal to see how far he's fallen in a relatively short amount of time.

The once-white-hot commodity endured bad booking decision after bad booking decision between 2022 and 2023, resulting in him losing a lot of the luster he had following his split from MJF (who he defeated at Double or Nothing 2022).

Pairing him with Undisputed Kingdom at the tail end of 2023 seemed to be AEW's attempt to revitalize him. That, too, was a failure.

He challenged Samoa Joe for the AEW World Championship on the Big Business edition of Dynamite in March 2024 and practically disappeared from programming soon after. His Undisputed Kingdom stablemate, Matt Taven, later told 98.5 The Sports Hub he was sidelined with a knee injury, but that hasn't stopped fans from questioning his whereabouts every few weeks.

Depending on his contract status, Wardlow would be tailor-made for a WWE run later in 2025, but if he'll be with AEW for the foreseeable future and is cleared to compete soon, a lot will need to be done to get him back on the right track.

The potential is there, but the damage may have been done, at least in AEW.

Austin Theory

Austin Theory defeated John Cena to retain the United States Championship at WrestleMania 39. That is an accurate sentence, no matter how incredulous it reads given his standing with WWE these days.

That mini feud did more to ruin his rise as a singles star than anything else WWE did with him before or since. The follow-up was nonexistent, and it was clear the new regime didn't see him as much of a main event player in the same light the previous regime did.

His team with Grayson Waller gave him the chance to evolve as a character and work his way back up the ranks, but despite reigning as one-half of the WWE tag team champions for a three-month period in 2024, he's more of a stepping stone now than he was a year ago.

The never-ending tension between him and Waller has hardly helped matters, as it's painfully obvious WWE has zero direction in mind for either of them.

Becoming a babyface might be the only way Theory can redeem himself in 2025, other than trying to hone his craft elsewhere and reinvent himself outside of the WWE system.

At just 27 years old, there is still hope for the former U.S. champ.

Deonna Purrazzo

It was almost a year ago when Deonna Purrazzo made her highly anticipated arrival on AEW Dynamite and instantly put the then-AEW women's world champion Toni Storm on notice.

She was treated like a total star during their feud in the two months that followed, but like most new AEW signees, her TV time drastically decreased after that rivalry ran its course.

Purrazzo and Thunder Rosa brought the best out of each other during their heated feud, but she ended up on the losing end of that as well.

The Virtuosa has largely been relegated to Rampage duty since then and hasn't been involved in anything of note. Additionally, there's been minimal development with her faction featuring Taya Valkyrie in recent months.

Purrazzo, 30, is among the most skilled stars AEW has in its women's division and deserves a bigger spotlight than she's getting at the moment.

While she couldn't capture the AEW women's world title from Storm (and a possible program with reigning champ Mariah May seems unlikely), the TBS Championship should soon be in her sights.

Otherwise, there's no clear-cut path for Purrazzo, and that would be a waste of what she's capable of.

Santos Escobar

All signs pointed to Santos Escobar being pushed pretty prominently coming off his betrayal of Rey Mysterio at the end of 2023.

The Mexican received strong heat for a time and assembled an updated Legado del Fantasma, but most of his momentum dissipated when WWE made the rivalry more convoluted than it needed to be.

Escobar and Dominik Mysterio lost to Rey and Andrade in a tag team match at WrestleMania 40, and that virtually marked the end of his short-lived ascent. He returned to midcard mediocrity for the remainder of 2024 and unsuccessfully challenged LA Knight for the United States Championship on two separate occasions.

The 40-year-old has all the tools of a top talent but hasn't been portrayed as one in the slightest, causing crowds to not care. He needs to be programmed with someone he can beat instead of being utilized as an enhancement talent for bigger stars.

His presentation is excellent and there's no denying his in-ring abilities, but his placement on the card for the past year is an indictment of how high his ceiling is believed to be internally.

Escobar can and should be a bigger priority in 2025 and beyond.

Ricky Starks

AEW refusing to use Ricky Starks in any capacity remains a mystery among fans, which is why it wouldn't be shocking to see him leave the promotion for WWE once he's contractually able to in 2025.

Regardless of where he winds up, it's imperative he is put back in the main event mix. That was where he did some of his most memorable work with CM Punk, Bryan Danielson and Chris Jericho in 2023 before falling by the wayside in 2024.

Starks, 34, hasn't been seen since wrapping up his run as AEW world tag team champion last spring. He's made a handful of appearances on the independent scene, but it's booking malpractice for AEW to not have anything substantial for him to do until his contract comes due.

Unless he's sidelined for the entirety of 2025, it's almost impossible for the new year to be worse than his 2024. He's developed into an exceptional talent as well as a fan favorite, making it that much more puzzling that his presence isn't being felt on AEW programming right now.

Starks needs a standout 2025 for his stock to skyrocket again and to remind the world what it's been missing out on.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.