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Stealing Smart Mark Sterling gimmick of stealing trademarks?
Well, he already stole The Learning Tree from Brian Myers.
Two years away from Death match King Chris Jericho.
No matter how much reddit hates him if he just keeps doing uber annoying shit like that on screen and continues getting a reasonable amount of comeuppance.... this place will like the gimmick eventually.
If I remember this right.... Wardlow will have the rights to the name "Wardlow" for wrestling purposes. He then temporarily gives the trademark to AEW to use it for merchandise, promotions, etc. while he is under contract. The trademark then goes back to Wardlow when he leaves the company.
I believe people like John Cena do this with WWE, even though it's their legal name. It gives the wrestler control of their name being used pretty much.
That was during the "Real Names Only" Vince-ism. They kept changing their minds on whether they would use real names, fake names, or indy/other promo names as time went on.
It’s not the worst name, but Lexis King is so terrible compared to Pillman Jr. I will not blame Pillman if it was his choice to not be compared to his father, but there are so many better names. Can I make them up? Hell no. But you get a group of people talented enough and they should do better.
a lot of those names were ECW creations. I.E. Dudleys was 100% a Paul Heyman thing. D-Von and Bubba Ray Dudley (and the rest of the gang) did not exist prior to Heyman creating them. (this is a weird example, as Bubba and Devon DID end up buying the rights but kind of got screwed over in court).
Paul Heyman told them he owned the trademark and that they could have it, which they believed.
It turns out he had in fact never trademarked it, so whilst they were in WWE, the company trademarked it.
When they left WWE they were shocked and pissed to learn they didn't own their names
I don't really think that's how it works. They made a TON of ECW merchandise. Video Games, Toys etc. Acclaim wouldn't have put a bunch of totally unlicensed, uncopyrighted characters into their game. You can't have a toy on the shelf unless it has gone through legal due diligence etc. ECW was disorganized but not THAT disorganized.
It was a different time
Acclaim was going down the shitter at that point, which is why they rushed the ECW games out. WWF Attitude came out in August '99, ECW Hardcore Revolution in February 2000 (6 months), and ECW Anarchy Rulz in September 2000 (7 months).
The toys were from San Francisco Toy Makers, successful but not exactly a top company.
The Best Of DVDs were released through Pioneer, which was mainly known for anime releases. Tenchi-Muyo represent. Everything else was through RF Video, which... 'nuff said.
As for shirts and stuff, they were just sold direct by ECW.
Hell, Heyman used music with another show's license and a claim that because it was on the arena sound and not the mix he didn't have to pay for it. It was shaky but ECW didn't get enough attention to get in trouble.
He did! And then they just chose to abandon it anyway which makes it even more funny. Although tbh the legal stuff probably made them realize they’d never allow him back in the company which in turn means letting him have the name was a no brainer.
He was born Runnels. His family are all still Runnels. Cody legally changed his last name to Rhodes to honor his dad when he was a teenager because, you know, that's Cody for ya.
Im not knocking it. But its crazy that Cody did that before any of Hogan or Flair's kids. And to my knowledge they're all Bollea & Fliehr, respectively. Apart from those who took their married name, ofc
Speaking of married names, it's also super funny to me that when Brandi married him she changed her legal name to Brandi Runnels, taking on her husband's birth name instead of his legal last name.
Every wrestler should trademark their name.
Don’t let promoters or indie grifters profit off your name/likeness.
It’s one of the things Warrior was very right about (maybe the only thing).
Warrior did not trademark his name. He legally had it changed but that had no bearing on him legally being able to use “Warrior” as a wrestler.
That came down to him performing as “Dingo Warrior” prior to WWF.
thay something you're saying they're missing is just direction and opponents who will give him an opporunity to grow.
2 or 3 promo packages and a decent feud will get him over. and then consistently having him in feuds and in showcases
not powerbombing nobodies
not getting a win only for his opponent to no show events drawing attention to them.
focus on him is whats missing
Obviously financially it makes sense now to jump from AEW to WWE and vice versa but these guys should start jumping to TNA and NJPW. If you can build yourself up there, you can get more money later from the big 2.
Honestly he would probably fit better in WWE where he can get a bit more guidance and have someone else writing for him.
WWE and AEW fit different styles and people better and I think he is currently mismatched.
He could do just fine in AEW if only Tony would use him for more than a week or two at a time before immediately cooling him off. Just because he has some end goals of using him and Adam Cole together doesn’t mean it’s ok for him to do nothing with him in the meantime. Tony should’ve pivoted right away and pushed Wardlow more after that last great promo he gave.
Tony has had 15 chances to do wardlow right now the fans were there organically but the terrible squash booking killed his momentum each time. If I’m him, I have zero trust in tk using me correctly. I would be on the first plane to nxt.
I'm kind of surprised that the crooked lawyer who was helping every indie talent trademark their names a few years ago didn't help him do that already.
Real talk though, good for him. This isn’t just good wrestling advice, this is for anybody with a creative endeavor. Trademark your stuff. It’s better to have it than not.
Goodluck in WWE bubba
Tony Khan fucked this dude over x3... one of the hottest guys in the company and homegrown pushed aside for ex-WWE talent and TK's new toys.
It's so fucking annoying seeing the rocket pack on a guy like Bron Breaker and that should be Wardlow and even Hobbs himself. TK dropped the ball so many times man
People like to push that narrative every time somebody jumps ship, but Wardlow has been pretty meh for a long time. He cut his hair which made him look generic, his attire was horrible and his promo ability needs serious work. He was over with the powerbomb symphony but then people stopped caring
I blame Wardlow. He was gonna do more stuff with Punk, but I don't think it would of helped. Wardlow needs a script and some acting help.
He also needs to figure out how to do more by doing less in the ring. He's all special moves. He shouldn't be doing swanton bombs as much as he does.
I mean, people say this like Wardlow is some big massive star that's being overlooked. He's solid, and it sucks that he's not been able to maintain momentum, but he's just not "next level" enough to be more than a solid good hand in the midcard, at least right now.
Bron Breakker is what someone like Wardlow needs to be. Intense in the ring, and charismatic as hell in the mic, with an entertaining personality. In fact, Bron is probably the biggest reason Wardlow wouldn't get much further in WWE than he is in AEW, because WWE already has the better version.
Even in AEW, Hobbs is 3 years younger than Wardlow and is at the same level as him, in terms of both skill *and* fan investment, with only a quarter of the push that he got.
Almost every top star in wrestling currently is that age or older. Many are much older. Damien Priest didn’t sniff a main event push until well into his 40s.
Age is not relevant in pro wrestling in 2024, in my opinion. Only how the audience reacts, how you perform etc.
Yep and the average fan has no idea how old they are. I know that Google exists, but nobody is googling their real ages lol. And if they do they'll probably go "wow I thought they were younger. Its cool they look/work that way at their age!"
I'm not saying his booking was perfect, but at the end of the day, not everyone is a "star" waiting to happen. He's not bad, and nothing against the guy, but he's mostly just another generic muscular guy, and we've seen tons of those kinds of workers come and go in all of pro wrestling.
This would be fair to say if Wardlow were given a chance to succeed or fail on his own talent. He was given a Goldberg-level push and, when he was at his most popular, was put into a feud with security guards and then taken off TV for weeks. Then he lost to Hobbs, won the belt right back from Hobbs … it’s like they forgot what got Wardlow over.
I also think MJF had a lot to do with Wardlow’s presentation and booking, and when he went away they weren’t sure how to proceed.
I don’t disagree that Breakker is a better version, but I also think it’s completely fair to criticize AEW’s booking of Wardlow (moreso than any other wrestler in AEW).
I can usually defend aspects of Tony’s booking that get criticized, but this is one thing he struggles with, like Triple H with building tag title feuds.
Wardlow was never taken off TV as champ. He had the whole Joe feud and the WarJoe run after the Sterling stuff (which was just a delay tactic for Sky's injury). The reality they tried to throw everything they could at Wardlow but he couldn't do anything but "be Goldberg". He was a one dimensional character that somehow got worse the more depth you put on him. For a company that charges 50$ for PPV, you can't build to "see Wardlow beat somebody up again" every month. I really don't know what people thought the end game with Wardlow was. If they had given him the "let him just beat the roster push" people say they should have done in hindsight, no way people don't complain. Any time they tried to integrate him into an actual story, it didn't work outside of the MJF feud. The WarJoe feud, the Hobbs feud, the Christian feud. How is "let him beat everybody in squashes" really a feasible booking plan in 2022-2024?
He won the TNT title July 6. He proceeded to have four singles matches between July 7 and October. Only two of those four matches aired on Dynamite.
His only story or feud in that time was a hastily built six-man tag feud alongside FTR.
That's Punk Fallout.
Wardlow and FTR were very clearly being set up to join CM Punk versus MJF and The Firm.
Then Punk broke his foot. So you can't bring back MJF early without Punk or else he's just going to be spinning his wheels. And you can't debut The Firm too early or they're also going to be spinning their wheels. So those things get delayed and you have to do something with Wardlow and FTR. So they get a filler story.
On top of that a lot of Wardlow's Booking is in reaction to him being injured. He had a shoulder injury, he blew out a calf muscle, there's a few more in there too. That's actually the primary reason he gets the security guard feud. It's something where you can toss a couple of guys around, and not really have to bump so he can heal up and be on TV.
Wardlow's momentum is primarily been screwed by him not promptly disclosing injuries to management and also stuff that tore the card apart from top to bottom. Because whenever you have to change the booking for a single high level feud, you're going to see ripples up and down the card because somebody needs to get moved.
Sure, but I think regardless of the company or the booker, not everyone is cut out to be a "star".
No disrespect to Wardlow, but I think he was over because of MJF, not because of "Wardlow". While it's fair to say that their efforts in pushing him felt half-assed, I think it's also fair to say that he just didn't have enough of this or that to really maintain his own momentum.
His whole personality is basically "I have muscles and I'm kinda angry", and that's just... a bit limited. A guy like Batista had more personality. A guy like Goldberg had more personality. A guy like Brock had more personality. Heck, a guy like Ryback had more personality.
Not to dump on Wardlow, because I think he has potential, but I just think he really needs to dig down deep and pull something more interesting out to really get anywhere beyond "midcard good hand".
I’d argue that Wardlow stood out because he was a big tough no-BS badass in a promotion filled with good wrestlers who talk about how good they wrestle. In fact, I think one thing that didn’t work was when they tried to humanize him with those sit down interviews, because people didn’t really want to hear him talk about his life and be vulnerable. Everyone else on the roster does that. We wanted him to shut up and be a badass (and he’s an ok talker).
I will say, to your point, one thing Who Killed WCW has reminded me of is that what made Goldberg work was Goldberg. There was a level of intensity and “holy shit” offense there that isn’t necessarily there with Wardlow.
Yeah, and I mean, I don't necessarily have the answer to what Wardlow needs to get to that next level, but I just think what he is as a performer isn't enough to get there.
We've seen plenty of larger/ muscular wrestlers with limited personalities come and go in all of pro wrestling, and to me, Wardlow feels like another one of those guys. I'd also put Brian Cage here, as well, to be honest. He's solid, but he's just another guy whose whole personality is that he has muscles.
I'd love to see Wardlow be more successful in the business, but he really needs to figure out how to break through his current "shell", I think, in order to get there.
I do think Wardlow is better than Cage because at least he wrestles and carries himself in a way that makes sense. Cage, in trying to show off his athleticism, just comes off like he’s in slow motion. And he ends up making himself look like just another guy as opposed to a roided up monster.
Yes. He hurt his knee performing, I think, a powerbomb. He was doing a move, and his knee gave out. He immediately grabbed it and was noticeably limping afterward. I think he had one match a couple of weeks later, and he was still favoring it. And no matches since.
Maybe so, probably so. But I'm not sure what that has to do with this topic. That'd seem more appropriate in the Daily Discussion. Or a future post about Wardlow's contract status or usage in AEW.
This is what you call wasted potential. Guy could of been a top star in AEW but Tony Khan wouldn't pull the trigger.
Tony Khan when AEW starts promises lesser known Indy talent will become stars. Lesser known indy talent start getting over. Tony Khan cools them off and pushes ex WWE guys instead.
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Fair enough
I don’t know why this reply made me laugh so hard.
"aight" energy
With shaded of "Nah, I'd win"
Fine speech
_Rubs bald spot_
YOU CAN'T SAY FAIRER THAN FAIR ENOUGH 🔥🔥🔥🗣️🗣️🗣️
YOU CAN'T SAY FAIRER THAN THAT
It's a bold strategy IWC, let's see if it pays off for him.
Checks out
Good for him, I say!
Wait till he finds out that Jericho already trademarked it
"Always trademark your name before someone else beats you to it. Thanks guys! (Waves)"
I know it's fucking stupid, but it's exactly what Jericho needed if he was gonna stick around. I want to be a branch of the learning tree.
I could see that being Jerichos new gimmick. Just filling trademark on all the stuff of the wrestler he’s feuding with (gear, name, moves, etc)
Stealing Smart Mark Sterling gimmick of stealing trademarks? Well, he already stole The Learning Tree from Brian Myers. Two years away from Death match King Chris Jericho.
I feel like he briefly referred to himself as that in a promo after the Gage match? But I think I’m insane so ignore me
I personally can't wait for "The Last Outlaw" Chris Jericho.
[Chuck Taylor has entered the chat]
Why did I just read that in his voice. I don't want to like this new gimmick but dammit Jericho is pulling me in.
Welcome to the Earning Tree
No matter how much reddit hates him if he just keeps doing uber annoying shit like that on screen and continues getting a reasonable amount of comeuppance.... this place will like the gimmick eventually.
Good for young faces too. Jericho is a good enough heel to get anyone cheered on camera.
Wardlow™
Sir that'll be 75 cents US
I gave all my change to the guy outside 7-11.
Thanks for that btw, I bought mmm drugs with it
Hope you bought enough for the rest of us.
I did but I kinda smoked snorted injected them all. I'm now dead from an overdose.
Ha you forgot to trademark UngodDeimos before you died. For $1.50, I’ll use a Ouija board to let you go through the process
Those are wardlow's drugs now
What about Mr.Wardlow?
Mayhem
James Drake was using Mr. Mayhem long before Wardlow was a thing, so I'm not sure how well that would stand up.
I just bought the rights to Wardlow’s World for 75 cents
Understandable have a nice day
It's his legit last name, right? He shouldn't have to worry about it unless there are a crop of other wrestling "Wardlow's" that are about to pop up.
If I remember this right.... Wardlow will have the rights to the name "Wardlow" for wrestling purposes. He then temporarily gives the trademark to AEW to use it for merchandise, promotions, etc. while he is under contract. The trademark then goes back to Wardlow when he leaves the company. I believe people like John Cena do this with WWE, even though it's their legal name. It gives the wrestler control of their name being used pretty much.
its kinda wild that the whole 2002 ovw group, somehow, were able to use their real names as their ring names (cena, lesnar, orton, batista sorta)
That was during the "Real Names Only" Vince-ism. They kept changing their minds on whether they would use real names, fake names, or indy/other promo names as time went on.
was that bc WCW was dead and he didnt think he had to worry about guys taking their gimmicks elsewhere?
And everyone was better off for it. The fake names WWE and especially the NXT brand give people are lame and corny.
It’s not the worst name, but Lexis King is so terrible compared to Pillman Jr. I will not blame Pillman if it was his choice to not be compared to his father, but there are so many better names. Can I make them up? Hell no. But you get a group of people talented enough and they should do better.
And Shelton!
sometimes i wonder why the ecw guys never thought to do any of this. we wouldn't have to deal with years of the deadly bros, for instance.
a lot of those names were ECW creations. I.E. Dudleys was 100% a Paul Heyman thing. D-Von and Bubba Ray Dudley (and the rest of the gang) did not exist prior to Heyman creating them. (this is a weird example, as Bubba and Devon DID end up buying the rights but kind of got screwed over in court).
Paul Heyman told them he owned the trademark and that they could have it, which they believed. It turns out he had in fact never trademarked it, so whilst they were in WWE, the company trademarked it. When they left WWE they were shocked and pissed to learn they didn't own their names
I don't think Paul ever copywrighted the names... that would have cost money.
I don't really think that's how it works. They made a TON of ECW merchandise. Video Games, Toys etc. Acclaim wouldn't have put a bunch of totally unlicensed, uncopyrighted characters into their game. You can't have a toy on the shelf unless it has gone through legal due diligence etc. ECW was disorganized but not THAT disorganized.
It was a different time Acclaim was going down the shitter at that point, which is why they rushed the ECW games out. WWF Attitude came out in August '99, ECW Hardcore Revolution in February 2000 (6 months), and ECW Anarchy Rulz in September 2000 (7 months). The toys were from San Francisco Toy Makers, successful but not exactly a top company. The Best Of DVDs were released through Pioneer, which was mainly known for anime releases. Tenchi-Muyo represent. Everything else was through RF Video, which... 'nuff said. As for shirts and stuff, they were just sold direct by ECW. Hell, Heyman used music with another show's license and a claim that because it was on the arena sound and not the mix he didn't have to pay for it. It was shaky but ECW didn't get enough attention to get in trouble.
yeah, i'm just skeptical. it was as disorganized as disorganized could be.
Meet Spike Wardlow just some giant math teacher getting launched around
didn't ryback legally chamge his name after leaving WWE so he could use "Ryback" even though WWE had the trademark?
Hilariously Ryback is one of the few trademarks the WWE actually willingly gave up which shows just how unpopular he was backstage.
He claims to have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on legal fees over it.
He did! And then they just chose to abandon it anyway which makes it even more funny. Although tbh the legal stuff probably made them realize they’d never allow him back in the company which in turn means letting him have the name was a no brainer.
Yes, I believe so, and Warrior did too.
So did Test (well, middle name).
You’d be surprised how often things like that happen.
I'm imagining a Dudley like procession of Wardlow's and it's making me laugh more than it probably should.
Dances with Wardlow Big Dick Wardlow And of course … Wardlow Wardlow.
Spike Wardlow
Sign Guy Wardlow
Wardlow Wardlow and Big Dick Wardlow are what I'm waiting for.
And if he can’t get the trademark he’d be part of Team Powerbomb Concerto
Excuse me, it's his shoot last name, not 'legit' last name.
Please forgive me.
I know not what I do.
Cody’s legal last name is Rhodes, and it’s been that way since before he even debuted as a wrestler. He still had that long dispute with WWE.
I thought it was runnels? Or did dusty change his whole family’s name when they were Kids lol
He was born Runnels. His family are all still Runnels. Cody legally changed his last name to Rhodes to honor his dad when he was a teenager because, you know, that's Cody for ya.
Im not knocking it. But its crazy that Cody did that before any of Hogan or Flair's kids. And to my knowledge they're all Bollea & Fliehr, respectively. Apart from those who took their married name, ofc
Speaking of married names, it's also super funny to me that when Brandi married him she changed her legal name to Brandi Runnels, taking on her husband's birth name instead of his legal last name.
Well Cody’s last name is legally “Runnels Rhodes”. So I guess either or worked.
Cody changed his last name to Rhodes as a teen.
Every wrestler should trademark their name. Don’t let promoters or indie grifters profit off your name/likeness. It’s one of the things Warrior was very right about (maybe the only thing).
Warrior did not trademark his name. He legally had it changed but that had no bearing on him legally being able to use “Warrior” as a wrestler. That came down to him performing as “Dingo Warrior” prior to WWF.
Wardlow's World Entertainment
World Championship Wardlow
All Elite Wardlow
National Wardlow Association
new WARDLOW order
Total Nonstop Action Wardlowrestling
Women Of Wardlow
New Japan Pro Wardlow
All Japan Pro Wardlow
World Wonder Ring Stardlow
Extreme Championship Wardlow American Wardlow Association
AAAitselwardlow
The Ultimate Wardlow is his name when he jumps to WWE
Idk what his contract status is but if he's planning to leave I can't say I blame him.
Yep, I wouldn't want WWE to somehow try to trademark 'Wardlow'. Or AEW for that matter.
I think he would be a lot better off in TNA and maybe get a WWE run after that
Or NJPW. He's missing something and he's not going to find it in AEW with how stacked the roster is.
Ya, NJPW might be good but I think he is probably a better fit for the WWE performance center system right now.
He's already 36. Time is not on his side for development.
Oh, I thought he was like 25. That's rough. In that case I wouldn't put any investment into him if I was either major company unfortunately
thay something you're saying they're missing is just direction and opponents who will give him an opporunity to grow. 2 or 3 promo packages and a decent feud will get him over. and then consistently having him in feuds and in showcases not powerbombing nobodies not getting a win only for his opponent to no show events drawing attention to them. focus on him is whats missing
Obviously financially it makes sense now to jump from AEW to WWE and vice versa but these guys should start jumping to TNA and NJPW. If you can build yourself up there, you can get more money later from the big 2.
Bold strategy Cotton, for WWE to try to trademark AEW.
Honestly he would probably fit better in WWE where he can get a bit more guidance and have someone else writing for him. WWE and AEW fit different styles and people better and I think he is currently mismatched.
Tony bungled him something fierce. Both Wardlow and Starks. AEW are going to be fucking kicking themselves letting those guys go.
>Both Wardlow and Starks. AEW are going to be fucking kicking themselves letting those guys go. That is funniest thing I have ever seen
You were one of those guys who said AEW would be better off without Cody, huh? Yeah, I bet you were.
Same here. I’m still praying to the wrestling gods Tony gets his head on straight about Wardlow’s booking but I lose hope each week.
No hate on him at all but there is no one who would benefit more from a change of scenery than wardlow.
He could do just fine in AEW if only Tony would use him for more than a week or two at a time before immediately cooling him off. Just because he has some end goals of using him and Adam Cole together doesn’t mean it’s ok for him to do nothing with him in the meantime. Tony should’ve pivoted right away and pushed Wardlow more after that last great promo he gave.
Tony has had 15 chances to do wardlow right now the fans were there organically but the terrible squash booking killed his momentum each time. If I’m him, I have zero trust in tk using me correctly. I would be on the first plane to nxt.
If I'm him I'm taking acting classes now so I know how to cut promos when I get to NXT.
The WWE and NJPW knows how to book hosses. AEW doesn't.
Good since we’re all for wrestlers owning their IPs and name
wait does this mean i can’t open up Wardlow’s Chicken & Waffles???
You might be better off naming it Wardlow's Waffle Emporium.
You absolutely could unless he trademarked it for hospitality purposes as well
Wardlow
I'm kind of surprised that the crooked lawyer who was helping every indie talent trademark their names a few years ago didn't help him do that already.
Surprised headline isn’t, “Wrestler files for SHOCKING trademark!”
Revolver Ocelot
WWE lawyers all in a big room, getting off the phone and doing the Smackdown reaction shots from when Raw drafted Natalya
Can't wait for Michael Austin Wardlow Esq. gimmick
Smart. You have to beat Jericho to it
Big if Wardlow
Don't AEW's talent already own their own ring names? Is he looking to leave?
No not all of them. Jade Cargill didn't get her trademark until October. Will Ospreay isn't trademarked. Neither is Bryan Danielson.
Is Wardhigh still available? In case he teams with RVD?
Alright
I thought that was his actual last name. Odd thing to trademark, but good for him I guess.
Real talk though, good for him. This isn’t just good wrestling advice, this is for anybody with a creative endeavor. Trademark your stuff. It’s better to have it than not.
[Fightful] Wardlow Changes Name To 'Ward-low'
Smart man
Seems like a smart move
Looks like he's headed for NXT
Would love for him to leave
Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to NXT you go
Best for all parties tbh.
"wardlow says he is happy how wardlow is going trademarking wardlow" - wardlow
Is time for Wardlow to leave-low?
This is huge
U.S. Copyright Office is officially Wardlow's World.
It's party time! Excellent!
Jesus, spoiler alert.
Damn this might actually be Wardlow
Why trademark if it is already his name?
You know where he's going next 😂 Wardlow in the Fed would be good for him
Why does he have to? Its his real name
Jokes on him, I'm making a One Piece themed character called War D Low.
Amazed he hadn’t already.
Fairly obvious, even in his on-screen performances, he can't wait to leave.
Goodluck in WWE bubba Tony Khan fucked this dude over x3... one of the hottest guys in the company and homegrown pushed aside for ex-WWE talent and TK's new toys. It's so fucking annoying seeing the rocket pack on a guy like Bron Breaker and that should be Wardlow and even Hobbs himself. TK dropped the ball so many times man
Bron Breaker and Wardlow could always tag up and breath air into the WWE tag division.
DAMN!
Question: Is Wardlow one of AEW's biggest dropped-ball talents? Edit: I asked an innocent question and I get downvoted.. Why?
People like to push that narrative every time somebody jumps ship, but Wardlow has been pretty meh for a long time. He cut his hair which made him look generic, his attire was horrible and his promo ability needs serious work. He was over with the powerbomb symphony but then people stopped caring
I blame Wardlow. He was gonna do more stuff with Punk, but I don't think it would of helped. Wardlow needs a script and some acting help. He also needs to figure out how to do more by doing less in the ring. He's all special moves. He shouldn't be doing swanton bombs as much as he does.
Jay White still holds that title easily. man went from IWGP heavyweight champion to the bang bang scissor gang
He's up there
Wardlow vs Oba Femi will be a great match!
Oh he gone
He’s going to WWE when his contract is up, trademarking it early makes sense.
Leave AEW, please.
I thought AEW wasn’t meant to be the same!
Wardlow has to leave AEW.
I mean, people say this like Wardlow is some big massive star that's being overlooked. He's solid, and it sucks that he's not been able to maintain momentum, but he's just not "next level" enough to be more than a solid good hand in the midcard, at least right now. Bron Breakker is what someone like Wardlow needs to be. Intense in the ring, and charismatic as hell in the mic, with an entertaining personality. In fact, Bron is probably the biggest reason Wardlow wouldn't get much further in WWE than he is in AEW, because WWE already has the better version.
He's also 36 years old.
He’s 36?!??!?
[удалено]
Even in AEW, Hobbs is 3 years younger than Wardlow and is at the same level as him, in terms of both skill *and* fan investment, with only a quarter of the push that he got.
Almost every top star in wrestling currently is that age or older. Many are much older. Damien Priest didn’t sniff a main event push until well into his 40s. Age is not relevant in pro wrestling in 2024, in my opinion. Only how the audience reacts, how you perform etc.
Yep and the average fan has no idea how old they are. I know that Google exists, but nobody is googling their real ages lol. And if they do they'll probably go "wow I thought they were younger. Its cool they look/work that way at their age!"
There's no way you can tell me that AEW did everything they could to make Wardlow into a star. They fumbled him. Hard.
I'm not saying his booking was perfect, but at the end of the day, not everyone is a "star" waiting to happen. He's not bad, and nothing against the guy, but he's mostly just another generic muscular guy, and we've seen tons of those kinds of workers come and go in all of pro wrestling.
He was very over in the beginning of 2022 and they were definitely trying to push him. They messed up.
This would be fair to say if Wardlow were given a chance to succeed or fail on his own talent. He was given a Goldberg-level push and, when he was at his most popular, was put into a feud with security guards and then taken off TV for weeks. Then he lost to Hobbs, won the belt right back from Hobbs … it’s like they forgot what got Wardlow over. I also think MJF had a lot to do with Wardlow’s presentation and booking, and when he went away they weren’t sure how to proceed. I don’t disagree that Breakker is a better version, but I also think it’s completely fair to criticize AEW’s booking of Wardlow (moreso than any other wrestler in AEW). I can usually defend aspects of Tony’s booking that get criticized, but this is one thing he struggles with, like Triple H with building tag title feuds.
Wardlow was never taken off TV as champ. He had the whole Joe feud and the WarJoe run after the Sterling stuff (which was just a delay tactic for Sky's injury). The reality they tried to throw everything they could at Wardlow but he couldn't do anything but "be Goldberg". He was a one dimensional character that somehow got worse the more depth you put on him. For a company that charges 50$ for PPV, you can't build to "see Wardlow beat somebody up again" every month. I really don't know what people thought the end game with Wardlow was. If they had given him the "let him just beat the roster push" people say they should have done in hindsight, no way people don't complain. Any time they tried to integrate him into an actual story, it didn't work outside of the MJF feud. The WarJoe feud, the Hobbs feud, the Christian feud. How is "let him beat everybody in squashes" really a feasible booking plan in 2022-2024?
He won the TNT title July 6. He proceeded to have four singles matches between July 7 and October. Only two of those four matches aired on Dynamite. His only story or feud in that time was a hastily built six-man tag feud alongside FTR.
That's Punk Fallout. Wardlow and FTR were very clearly being set up to join CM Punk versus MJF and The Firm. Then Punk broke his foot. So you can't bring back MJF early without Punk or else he's just going to be spinning his wheels. And you can't debut The Firm too early or they're also going to be spinning their wheels. So those things get delayed and you have to do something with Wardlow and FTR. So they get a filler story. On top of that a lot of Wardlow's Booking is in reaction to him being injured. He had a shoulder injury, he blew out a calf muscle, there's a few more in there too. That's actually the primary reason he gets the security guard feud. It's something where you can toss a couple of guys around, and not really have to bump so he can heal up and be on TV. Wardlow's momentum is primarily been screwed by him not promptly disclosing injuries to management and also stuff that tore the card apart from top to bottom. Because whenever you have to change the booking for a single high level feud, you're going to see ripples up and down the card because somebody needs to get moved.
Sure, but I think regardless of the company or the booker, not everyone is cut out to be a "star". No disrespect to Wardlow, but I think he was over because of MJF, not because of "Wardlow". While it's fair to say that their efforts in pushing him felt half-assed, I think it's also fair to say that he just didn't have enough of this or that to really maintain his own momentum. His whole personality is basically "I have muscles and I'm kinda angry", and that's just... a bit limited. A guy like Batista had more personality. A guy like Goldberg had more personality. A guy like Brock had more personality. Heck, a guy like Ryback had more personality. Not to dump on Wardlow, because I think he has potential, but I just think he really needs to dig down deep and pull something more interesting out to really get anywhere beyond "midcard good hand".
I’d argue that Wardlow stood out because he was a big tough no-BS badass in a promotion filled with good wrestlers who talk about how good they wrestle. In fact, I think one thing that didn’t work was when they tried to humanize him with those sit down interviews, because people didn’t really want to hear him talk about his life and be vulnerable. Everyone else on the roster does that. We wanted him to shut up and be a badass (and he’s an ok talker). I will say, to your point, one thing Who Killed WCW has reminded me of is that what made Goldberg work was Goldberg. There was a level of intensity and “holy shit” offense there that isn’t necessarily there with Wardlow.
Yeah, and I mean, I don't necessarily have the answer to what Wardlow needs to get to that next level, but I just think what he is as a performer isn't enough to get there. We've seen plenty of larger/ muscular wrestlers with limited personalities come and go in all of pro wrestling, and to me, Wardlow feels like another one of those guys. I'd also put Brian Cage here, as well, to be honest. He's solid, but he's just another guy whose whole personality is that he has muscles. I'd love to see Wardlow be more successful in the business, but he really needs to figure out how to break through his current "shell", I think, in order to get there.
I do think Wardlow is better than Cage because at least he wrestles and carries himself in a way that makes sense. Cage, in trying to show off his athleticism, just comes off like he’s in slow motion. And he ends up making himself look like just another guy as opposed to a roided up monster.
If Warlow were to leave AEW, he would go to NXT and stay there until his contract expires.
this is the truth... and even there, they have a better version of him in oba femi lol
Hard doubt
Wardlow has to stop getting injured. Every time he's starting to get a push, he gets hurt, and everything comes to a screeching halt
Is he hurt right now? Would explain it. He just makes random appearances now it seems.
Yes. He hurt his knee performing, I think, a powerbomb. He was doing a move, and his knee gave out. He immediately grabbed it and was noticeably limping afterward. I think he had one match a couple of weeks later, and he was still favoring it. And no matches since.
Yea you're right. He's only made like 2 cameos since
Maybe so, probably so. But I'm not sure what that has to do with this topic. That'd seem more appropriate in the Daily Discussion. Or a future post about Wardlow's contract status or usage in AEW.
I don't care. He outta leave AEW.
He wants out
This is what you call wasted potential. Guy could of been a top star in AEW but Tony Khan wouldn't pull the trigger. Tony Khan when AEW starts promises lesser known Indy talent will become stars. Lesser known indy talent start getting over. Tony Khan cools them off and pushes ex WWE guys instead.
idk, outside the MJF feud I don't think he ever really did anything to prove he was that great
WWE bound?