AEW Planning Return Of Former Champion After More Than A Year Away

A former champion in AEW is expected to return to the ring soon after being away for a long time.

When AEW launched in 2019, they featured Maxwell Jacob Friedman as a cocky, young star on the rise. Years before MJF became the longest reigning World Champion in company history, he was joined by a bodyguard named Wardlow, who rarely wrestled, but was loyal to MJF because he was paid well.

Wardlow’s first AEW match was in February 2020 against Cody Rhodes in a Steel Cage. By early 2022, Wardlow turned face by going against MJF’s wishes.

As a wrestler, Wardlow achieved significant success, becoming a three-time TNT Champion and holding the title for a total of 198 days, the second most in the company.

Loyal AEW viewers would also know that Wardlow has been away from television for over a year. The last time he competed in a match was on March 13, 2024 when he challenged Samoa Joe for the AEW World Title on Dynamite.

Fightful Select has reported that Wardlow was backstage at AEW Dynamite this past week and was also backstage at AEW All In Texas last month.

AEW Planning Wardlow To Come Back Soon

The report from Fightful noted that Wardlow has been gone for the past 17 months because of a shoulder injury and a car accident that put him on the sidelines, and kept him there for a long time.

In addition to that, Wardlow has also filmed two seasons of the American Gladiators series, which WWE’s The Miz hosts and will air on Amazon Prime Video soon.

There have been “discussions about how to bring Wardlow back” to AEW, according to Fightful, but no further details were provided about when Wardlow might return.

Regarding his future in AEW, Fightful closed the report by noting that Wardlow has “substantial time” left on his current deal with the company, so he isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.