>>16454891He didn't work out in NXT, desu. It's more that he's a product of a certain time and hasn't really adapted to the 2020s.
Dude's been stale since 2019.
As for AEW, he got signed between Phil and Danielson. And again, he was the main guy in NXT when AEW first came up and AEW won most weeks. Tony is an idiot and signed all the people he beat in the ratings with shitters like Sonny Kiss.