He definitely did more with less, his feud with Cody and Mox were excellent at points, especially the glass door breaking angle in the Autumn and Mox’s spike to the eye - such good old fashioned wrestling angles. And there’s no doubt even with his physical limitations he’s more than lived up to the job of being first champ. The way he made relative unknowns like Scorpio Sky and Jungle Boy seemed like legitimate contenders really helped cement AEW as its own thing and built on organic fan reception which is something WWE so often fail to do, or actively rail against. He did a great job, and if the Stadium Stampede is your thing then he had an incredible year. Versatility on the commentary table too, and in his tag matches with Sammy, He’s just a babystep behind Cody and Kenny in my opinion, but I’d have put him above Mox (or any wwe talent) for sure.
On reflection think my top 5 would be Cody, Kenny, Jericho, Adam Cole, Moxley.
