Wardlow has claimed that recent events in AEW have created an opportunity for talents to step up and stake their claim to become an important part of the company.
In the hours after AEW All Out CM Punk flipped the wrestling world on it’s head. The star first launched a verbal assault at the media scrum on certain members of the locker room including EVP’s the Young Bucks and Kenny Omega.
This led to a physical altercation backstage and a number of suspensions being handed down by AEW President Tony Khan. The aftermath also saw the AEW World Championship and the newly created Trios Championship declared vacant.
With a number of AEW stars missing from television with no set return date on the horizon, many fans have suggested that this could be a perfect opportunity for some unsung stars to assume a more prominent role.
One man who agrees with this assertion is Wardlow. Speaking on the Dynamite Download, the TNT Champion sent out something of a rallying cry to the rest of the locker room. The star challenged everyone to step up and lead the company forwards, commenting that the locker room needs to unite as it did in the promotion’s early days.
“It’s more important now more than ever. It was already necessary for me to turn it up, but where we are in the current state of AEW, it is even that much more important to amp it the fuck up. That’s just what it is. It’s time for everybody to step it up. Everybody that is talking about not having an opportunity, here is your opportunity. Here is everyone’s chance to step it up. I
t’s time to get back to the day one vibe. When it started, we were a family and we survived COVID like a family. We saw each other more than we saw our families. We’re most definitely getting back, literally just this past week, it really felt like that strong bond again. We’re on the right track now, it’s great,”
On the September 7th edition of Dynamite Wardlow demolished Tony Nese in short order before delivering a passionate promo where he fired back at his critics. Reflecting on this promo the star said that it wasn’t him playing a character, his comments were very real, even admitting that he may have dropped the ball following his huge win over MJF at Double or Nothing.
“I didn’t call out the locker room, I called out the business. That wasn’t a promo, it’s very real. It’s more real than anybody can even fathom. The line between who you see on TV and who is in real life can be very blurry at times. It’s very real.
I see that stuff and I know things…when you go from literally one of the best feuds in pro wrestling in many many years, anything you do after that is going to be difficult to follow up with. Do I feel like maybe I dropped the ball a bit? Maybe. I feel like I owe it to the fans and I owe it to myself to turn it up and it’s time for me to challenge next level people.
What is next for Wardlow? It really comes down to, who is going to step up. I just called everyone out, who is going to step up? Who are the next level guys that are going to step up? The door is wide open,”
Speaking elsewhere Wardlow recently opened up about his struggles with alcohol and depression before he turned his life around and became one of AEW’s biggest stars.
H/t to Fightful for the transcription.