Double Or Nothing should have launched Wardlow into the stratosphere, but instead, AEW is dragging its feet in what should be a no-brainer push. He beat MJF, one of the biggest stars in the company, after powerbombing him 10 times on the May 29 pay-per-view, but it seems like there weren’t clear-cut plans for him after that feud ended. He’s been mired in a few comedy skits and matches since then, which seems like a waste of the momentum he had built leading up to and during his match with MJF.
Wardlow was brought along the right way by All Elite. Instead of trying to immediately capitalize on his size and look, he was booked to backup Friedman throughout his early days with the company. He showed character development during that time, however, frequently being reluctant to do his now-former boss’ bidding. Breaking free of Friedman’s control should have been a monster moment for The War Dog, but instead, he (along with everyone else in AEW) got lost in the shuffle after MJF’s excellent pipe bomb promo and the aftermath.
On the June 15 episode of Wednesday Night Dynamite, Wardlow beat 20 security guards who represented all the men he’d taken out during the leadup to Double Or Nothing. It was an impressive show of strength and stamina—can you imagine trying to pick up 10 or 15 grown men multiple times in just a few minutes?—and got some laughs. The time for funny business is over, however. AEW has a future world champion on its hands if they build Wardlow right, and bogging him down in nonsense in the coming weeks could take the legs out from under him for the time being.
All Elite has developed a nasty habit of not capitalizing when wrestlers get over organically. HOOK went from one of the most over performers in the company to being a part of comedy skits with Danhausen, for instance. AEW is running the same course with Wardlow, taking legit momentum he has with fans and sticking him into a humor spot where he beats up 20 men in a cartoonish match. It was fun, sure, but this shouldn’t be indicative of Wardlow’s direction. After the 20-on-1 bout, a match with Scorpio Sky was teased, and this isn’t a feud AEW needs to overthink.
Scorpio Sky isn’t at fault for how poorly the TNT Championship has been treated during his time with the belt, but he won’t be able to rehab the title at this point. Wardlow, on the other hand, could defend it on a near-weekly basis while continuing to his resume as a legitimate threat to the AEW World Champion. Wardlow and Sky don’t need to beef for the next four months. They don’t need a trilogy of matches. This needs to be short and sweet, for both the sake of Wardlow and the floundering TNT Championship.
