10 Wrestlers Who NEED A Huge 2024
4. Wardlow
It’s a fact well known amongst AEW sceptics that Tony Khan has far too many toys to play with, so it’s no surprise that some workers will struggle for TV amidst such a stacked roster. But how do you drop the ball so many times with a guy like Wardlow?
On paper he’s not far off being ur-wrestler. He looks great, he can talk well enough, with the right opponent he’s really fun in the ring. Most importantly, he has an aura, and as Big Bill will tell you, you can’t teach that. Throughout all his stop-start booking, the fans are always happy to see him back.
The blessing and curse is his tie to MJF. In recent memory he destroyed AEW’s world champion and, as he’s intermittently telling us, he has every intention of finishing the job, winning the belt. That’s built-in story. But what happens when MJF drops the belt (assuming - and one can assume this - it’s not to Wardlow)? Does Wardlow still feel like a guy who’d be pushing for the championship? Not in this state.
He’s a young man and so a year of bad booking wouldn’t spell the end of his wrestling career. What he also is, though, is a guy who’d fit in well up Connecticut way, and the way the winds are blowing, perhaps that’s what Tony should worry about.