Parker Boudreaux explains the creative differences between WWE and AEW | Exclusive
A former part of both the AEW and WWE roster, Parker Boudreaux has now openly named the differences between the two promotions.
A promising college football athlete, Boudreaux later parted ways with the sport and began his professional wrestling journey with WWE. Trained at the Performance Center, Boudreaux soon made his NXT debut. However, he was released shortly after. Following this, he joined AEW and stayed with them for a few years.
In his recent exclusive with F4WON, Boudreaux opened up about how things work at both WWE and AEW, and the key differences between them. “Once you get the character, you don’t really have too much say. I had to go bald. So I was the scary guy. I didn’t really talk on the mic; I couldn’t really talk on the promos too much. You know, now I could obviously cut promos. I got my hair back. I got my whole, you know, style, the BFD, and it was just obviously when they gave me the character, I went full in with Harland,” Boudreaux shared while explaining the creative process in WWE.
“You know, I was wearing, like, jumpsuits like, in the grocery store trying to scare people. And, you know, like, I was fully in the character, you know? So for me, I thought I was doing everything right, and that’s why I can never say anything bad about WWE ’cause when I got there, the coaches taught me really well.
“Coach Matt Bloom, Fit Finlay, Robbie Brookside, all those people really had a great impact on my basic fundamentals right when I got there. And, you know, what an honor to be taught by those guys, and now still talking to Paul Heyman, and I know they’re probably watching me,” the 28-year-old said. “So it’s a great honor, and I know it was just a tremendous blessing with every company that I’ve been with, and that’s what a lot of people can’t really say. I don’t know why. But for me, it’s like every company that I’ve been to so far, knock on wood, has been just so amazing and treated me so well.“
Shortly after explaining the creative process in WWE, he opened up in detail about the process in AEW.
“When I got released from WWE, it was unexpected. So, within, like, a couple weeks, I got a call from AEW, and it was a tryout. So I had a couple tryouts with AEW Dark matches and that was really amazing because when I got there, I was developing my own Parker Boudreaux character, and that’s when I got my name back,” he added.
“You know, definitely throw more ideas in where it’s definitely inspired with, like I grew my hair back, I changed my gear from Harland to like the gear that I wanted and stuff like that. And it was just stuff like that, like little things where it’s, where you could kinda fix your little character, what you may think that you may want in there. Maybe you could pitch it from there. You know, even with WWE you have to get, you know, your tattoos like approved and stuff like that because it’s worldwide TV, so I get it. And you know, same thing with AEW, but it’s just a little bit more creative freedom on the side of like little things like that,” he answered while explaining the creative differences.
“I was growing my hair back. With AEW, you get more character. You’re more free to do what you want on your character, so I was just grew my hair back. I took my shirt off. I had the regular pro wrestling shorts and boots on, and it was just a basic, generic look, but it was different than the Harland,” he continued.
“When I got into AEW, it was just for me. When, at WWE for NXT, every Tuesday was at the same exact arena in Orlando. So when we got to AEW, you were traveling to all these different locations around the US, and that was super cool because we’re in different arenas and different things like that, and that was better for me because that was my first time in wrestling. So it’s, like, a different environment, especially on your comebacks and stuff like that. You could really feel out the crowd. And so for AEW, it was, like, more character work. Get to work in a lot more audiences, like in arenas. I still was on TV learning from a lot of good people, obviously some legends like Mark Henry, The Big Show, some of these people that are really, really amazing, you know. So I still had some great coaches, great feedback on everything that I was doing.“
However, he was soon released from AEW in 2024, following which he made a decision that turned around his career.
Parker Boudreaux is a regular name in Gleat and OPW
In the same interview with F4WON, Boudreaux opened up about his experience working with Gleat in Japan and OPW in Australia. Heaping praise on both promotions, Boudreaux now wants to give his best to both of these rising promotions.
”Gleat is definitely, it’s given me so much huge opportunities. They’ve treated me like I’m like Taylor Swift over there. It’s like when I go over there, I know all the Gleat members so well. Mr. [Hiroyuki] Suzuki-san, the president, he’s called me the greatest fighter in the world a couple of times now, and I’ve literally almost cried in front of him when he said that on the last tour because he was like being so gentle.
“So I had the world title opportunity right when I got there. Now I’m going back for the sixth time, and I get to live in the dojo. They treat me so well. They give me huge opportunities when I’m on Japanese TV. Gleat has a huge platform, especially on social media and even in person in Japan, like how they treat me is just so amazing, and I’m fully diving into the culture. My new mentor, his name is Kotaro Suzuki. He was the last person to learn from Misawa-san, in 2009, before he passed away. And you know, Misawa-san’s considered one of the greatest of Japanese pro wrestlers of all time. So to have my new mentor learn from the last, be the last one to learn from one of the greatest of all time, like, wow, what an honor. I just gotta keep doing what I’m doing and keep outshining everybody,” Boudreaux stated while sharing his thoughts on Gleat.
OPW, based in Melbourne, Australia, has recently hosted several new events and matches with some of the rising names in Australian and International pro-wrestling. Boudreaux recently defeated Shanky there to win the OPW Global title and now wants to defend it regularly.
“Then, when I went to OPW in Australia, Mr. [Cameron] Vale is just a legend because he’s starting something where there’s so much great Australian talent. Rhea Ripley, all these people, you know, Buddy [Matthews], you know, all these people. They’re great talent, but it’s like underrated. Not many companies are platforming pro wrestling over there. So if we continue to build OPW and have, you know, matches like me versus Shanky and these matches where it’s rare, these matches don’t happen. You don’t really see these matches happening. That’s what’s gonna build it tremendously because he has such great resources and people and connections where he does stuff with AFL, which is like the biggest thing in Australia. He has connections where he’s doing collabs with them. You know, he’s doing collabs with the baseball teams. He’s trying to do with basketball teams. He’s getting, you know, influencers for the matches and all that stuff. He’s trying to get like mainstream over there because it’s underrated in Australia. It’s different between Gleat and OPW, but I just, I love both,” Shanky finished.
Shounak Chakrabarti is an experienced sports journalist with a lifelong passion for athletics and storytelling. He holds a Master’s Degree in International Journalism from the University of Leeds and joined F4WOnline in 2025.
Shounak takes particular interest in soccer, closely following top clubs like Real Madrid and Arsenal. Beyond sports, he enjoys fiction writing, photography, gaming, and cinema.