Sonny Kiss is an AEW original.

While the genderfluid superstar who uses she/her/he/they pronouns wrestled 193 matches before her AEW debut at the original Fight for the Fallen and technically wrestled on television before, going by the name XO Lishus in Lucha Underground, Kiss didn't rise to national prominence until 2019, when she was a fixture of early episodes of Dynamite.

And yet, as AEW has gone on, the roster has expanded out to an incredible degree, and television time has become harder and harder to come by, Kiss' push all but disappeared; even if her innate ability to get a certain segment of fans very angry for just existing remained. Before Quake at the Lake, Kiss hadn't wrestled on AEW television since Dynamite #55, where she lost a 26-second squash to Kenny Omega in the lead-up to his eventual AEW World Championship win, and hadn't won a match on AEW television since, well, ever.

Considering the 55th edition of AEW Dynamite came all the way back in October of 2020, that's a long, long time, folks.

Granted, Kiss didn't just sit in catering, draw a check, and save up her paychecks for the day they would no longer come. No, Kiss wrestled 44 more matches either on AEW Dark, AEW Dark Elevation, or on the AEW-adjacent Jericho Cruise, and even had a fantastic program with Joey Janela that saw the duo wrestle together 27 times and then exchange wins before the “Bad Boy” left the promotion for the bright lights and glass panes of GCW.

Still, due to her passionate fanbase, there was always a passionate set of wrestling appreciators on special media who pushed to see Kiss back on television, with “The Concrete Rose” joking to FaceTurn that, “I think there was honestly like, essentially like a petition kind of going on. I would love to be used more in general. I feel like eventually, it’ll happen. I have been trying my best to be patient, wait my turn.”

Fortunately for the fans who held it down and kept the pressure on Tony Khan to see their favorite wrestler back in the ring, that day eventually came, as Kiss was back in the ring on AEW Rampage – her Rampage debut – for not one, but two segments of the hour-long show and the results were very good for her inclusion in future shows… and very bad for Orange Cassidy the Best Friends.

Sonny Kiss finally has a new schtick in the AEW Galaxy.

When Sonny Kiss took the ring against the newest member of AEW roster, Parker Boudreaux, it had all of the makings of a good old-fashioned squash. She stared down her much bigger foe, wound up, and was promptly dropped twice by the “Baby Incarnate” before adding yet another loss to her Cagematch page.

If that was that, then that, as they say, would have been that, but as eagle-eyed fans who watch AEW Dark Elevation may recall, Kiss had a conversation with the Trustbusters after taking a trios loss in a match that also featured eventual Hook challenger Zack Clayton. This, obviously, paid off in a big way at the end of the main event, as, after Orange Cassidy took care of Ari Daivari in his return to AEW television, all heck broke loose as both the Trustbusters and the Best Friends duked it out with Slim J getting disposed of in short order by Chuck Taylor and Trent Baretta and the tag team getting a taste of their own medicine from Boudreaux. Kiss hit the ring to help her fellow babyfaces, but alas, it just wasn't meant to be; Kiss turned on OC, juiced his oranges with a swift kick to the pockets, and celebrated her decision with the ‘busters on the outside.

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AEW, Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, Stokely Hathaway, Rampage,

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So what gives? Is Kiss a certified baddie the likes of which should be giving Jade Cargill and Stokley Carmichael a call? Or is this a marriage of convenience for a performer desperately looking to nab her first win on AEW television? Fortunately, Kiss chimed in on Twitter after Alex Abrahantes desperately questioned her motives.

Hmm… calling Daivari or Slim J “winners” is sort of a stretch, but I can see why folks would want to get into business with Boudreaux, as that dude looks legit.

Ultimately, regardless of how this current angle shakes out for Sonny Kiss, it's nice to see the “Concrete Rose” from Jersey City finally make it back onto television after months away. Her inclusion in the Trustbusters is interesting, her heel turn is something different with a lot of potential, and who knows, maybe it will lead to that elusive television win that has eluded her for years.