8 Ups & 3 Downs From AEW Collision (June 17)

Downs...

3. We Need To Talk About Wardlow...

AEW Collision Christian Cage Luchasaurus Wardlow
AEW

A year ago, it seemed destined that Wardlow would be the one to topple MJF for the AEW World Championship as and when the Salt of the Earth inevitably won the promotion's top prize.

Now? Not so much so.

To say the booking of Wardlow across these past 12 months has been odd, would be a monumental understatement. The War Dog has gone from can't-miss main event prospect, to an utter afterthought. Sure, he's had three reigns as the TNT Champion since this time last year, but the powerhouse is treading water right now.

This is no fault of the talent himself, but where does Wardlow find himself moving forward? Does he get revenge on Christian Cage and Luchasaurus, and claim back the TNT Title? That could once again place him in the same sort of rut he's been in. Does Wardlow move on to something or someone else? Possibly, but it's hard right now to take him seriously as going after someone higher up the food chain, with him positioned like a nobody in recent months.

Tony Khan needs to decide just how much potential he thinks Wardlow has, and where he views the former Pinnacle man in a year or more's time. If Wardlow really is seen as a future top tier player, there needs to be significant adjustments made to his presentation right now.

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Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.