The AEW Fight Forever hidden characters list features a number of significant fighters that you can sneak onto your roster, but you'll need to know how to unlock them first and for some of them this involves quite a convoluted process. The toughest of these are former WWE favorites Owen Hart and Paul Wight, so you'll need to hit the necessary requirements in order to access them in AEW Fight Forever. In total there are five secret additions, and I'll explain how to make them all playable in this AEW Fight Forever hidden characters guide.
Cody Rhodes
The American Nightmare makes the AEW Fight Forever roster despite defecting to its big-name rival in 2022. That means he’s the only wrestler to appear both in this game, and on the WWE 2K23 roster. To unlock him for general use, simply head to the store and part with 10,000 AEW dollars.
Aubrey Edwards
AEW’s senior ref is the default official in the game, but also available as a playable character. Like Rhodes, you can find her in the Fight Forever store, for 20,000 cash. Find it weird having Edwards overseeing her own matches? Jump into Options and switch the in-game referee to Rick Knox.
Mr Brodie Lee
This one requires a degree of fortune. You need to play the Road To Elite career mode, and hope to be given the Join The Dark Order storyline on the Road To Full Gear. (There are always two alternatives, so it won’t trigger on every playthrough.)
I managed to get it by starting Road To Elite as Wardlow. I lost the initial Casino Royale Battle Royale but won every match after that, and the Join The Dark Order story kicked off immediately after All Out.
Beat Lee for the TNT Championship at Full Gear and he becomes available in the store for 30,000 cash.
Paul Wight
There’s luck involved here too – and saint-like patience. Wight is a horror to unlock, who had me close to launching my controller against a wall.
The first challenge is getting the necessary Road To Elite storyline. It’s called Who’s Ribbing Me?, and is part of the final career mode block on the Road To Double Or Nothing. I started a career mode as Dustin Rhodes, and deliberately lost every single match in the first three blocks. This finally triggered Who’s Ribbing Me?.
You face Wight in the third week. With a catch: you only have three minutes to beat him, and he’s impervious to grapple moves. He also kicks out of multiple signatures and finishers. It is infuriating. Be sure to quit out of the game completely and relaunch it from your browser if you haven’t won with 20 seconds to go.
The most effective way to beat Wight is via count out. Taunt him until he gets out of the ring, then whip him into the nearest barricade. Do this over and over and over until the ref reaches a nine count, then leap back into the ring. Even this take may take multiple attempts, but eventually you’ll win, and Wight will be available in the store for 30,000 coins.
All too much effort? Then download Wight, AKA Big Show / The Giant, from our WWE 2K23 CAWs guide instead.
Owen Hart
You’ll have a little wait to unlock the legendary Hart family member, but thankfully this one just requires perseverance. Play 100 matches in exhibition and Owen will appear in store, for 50,000 dollars.
Matt Hardy
Don’t be fooled into thinking Matt Hardy is a hidden character. While Jeff’s little bro pops up in career mode, Matt’s actually only playable as DLC. Thankfully, there are two different versions to enjoy. All is explained in our AEW Fight Forever Broken Matt Hardy guide.
Renee Paquette
Wait, what? Yep, the broadcasting queen is also in AEW Fight Forever… kind of. The fourth default female create-a-wrestler face is the spitting image of Paquette – known to WWE 2K23 fans as Renee Young – meaning you can easily make her yourself with a generic in-ring outfit. Or let us do it for you: head to our AEW Fight Forever CAW formulas guide to find out how.
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