10 Wrestlers AEW Plucked From Complete Obscurity
1. Wardlow
The above graphic may fly in the face of the very title of this article, but with all due respect to Revenge Wrestling (not least for their choice to book the awesome Wardlow as a top guy), there's a big difference between between the big fish in a pond that small and very quickly looking like a killer whale in a deep ocean.
As of 2022, Vince McMahon has made it very clear that his developmental philosophy is once again rooted in finding bigger jacked up athletes and molding them into Sports Entertainers. Thank goodness he didn't get to the 'War Dog' before AEW existed.
A good actor by acting standards rather than merely wrestling ones, Wardlow hasn't just done lots with little; he's done everything. Jobber squash matches have become stage-setters for his powerbomb symphonies. A crumbling financially motivated relationship with MJF has been an intoxicating ingredient of the company's storylines for a year and a half, and he'd have smashed through a glass ceiling had their even been one placed upon him.
He's not there yet, but as with spiritual predecessor Dave Batista, there's sometimes no better bet than the safest one.