Wardlow On AEW Segment He Was “Dreading”
TNT Champion Wardlow has discussed the one segment he was a part of in AEW that he admits he was “dreading” before it took place.
Wardlow has been through a lot in his three years as part of AEW. Spending most of his first two years in the company watching the back of MJF, fans were longing for the day when Mr. Mayhem would break free from his shackles and shut the loudmouth Long Island native up.
That happened at Revolution when Wardlow allowed CM Punk to use MJF’s Dynamite Diamond ring against him to claim victory, signalling the end of the partnership. The two men eventually met at Double Or Nothing in 2022 but the TNT Champion had to endure gruelling challenges to get his hands on the man that had once been his boss.
Speaking to Joel Pearl of Fightful, Wardlow discussed how one of those challenges was something he was dreading – when MJF whipped him repeatedly with a belt:
“To be 100% honest, I was really dreading that. Obviously, being whipped with a belt, it’s kind of hard to go into that thinking positively. The adrenaline from the crowd is something you really can’t explain until you felt it.”
“When he smacked me that first time, in my head, I’m like, ‘Gosh, this is gonna suck.’ Then he did it, and I was like, ‘that was it?’ That smile on my face was genuine because it was me going, ‘Oh, this is easy, keep them coming.’ It wasn’t too bad. Thank God for adrenaline,” he said. “I had some red marks, but I have thick skin, maybe.”
Wardlow captured the TNT Championship from Scorpio Sky back in July and he has currently found something of a tag team partner in ROH Television Champion, Samoa Joe.