Predicting AEW's Next 10 Breakout Stars
1. Wardlow
The big man has been playing second fiddle to MJF since arriving on the scene, but there is every chance that Wardlow comes out of the new Inner Circle as the biggest beneficiary. There will always be a market for good-looking jacked-up dudes, and they don't come any more good-looking and jacked-up than Wardlow.
It has been clear from the very beginning that AEW has big plans for Wardlow. He was one of the first to get vignettes hyping his arrival, two months of the things before an impactful debut that saw Wardlow align with MJF and beat the tar out of Cody. His role as MJF's heavy allowed Wardlow to become established on-screen without having to expose his relative inexperience and weaknesses.
Dissension has been teased between MJF and Wardlow on a number of occasions, and the inevitable split could well see Wardlow thrust into the babyface stratosphere, becoming one of the first major homegrown AEW stars in the process. The spotlight remains on MJF, but that isn't going to be the case forever.
What price Wardlow eventually winning the AEW Championship from MJF? What price him winning it before his current boss?