Wardlow (AEW Revolution spoilers!)

[RedRooster]

I've always been a bit of a doubter when it comes to Wardlow's upside. Even when he was on his hot streak, his ring skills seemed average and his mic work was sub par. 

...then the past month happened. He's been bloody brilliant as a heel so far, knocking it out of the park on the mic and coming across as a star once again. 

He now, of course, has a title shot in his back pocket. 

I feel like he has more of an upside than I originally thought, but I'm not sure he can afford to lose another title shot. But Joe is, of course, doing a cracking job as champion. 

So...what do you do with Wardlow from here? And what do you think his upside is?

[Chili]

He has a lot, and I think Big Bill is a shining example that you can have it, lose it and come back better than when you had it in the first place. I personally think Adam Cole and his merry men don't really work for me so I'd be up for them fucking it for Wardlow and him absolutely destroying them. He can even back up MJF when he returns for a tag match or something. AEW is lots of moving parts so for Wardlow I see his upside being a guy just under the top level. He's definitely underrated for how decent in matches he actually is. 

Should have never cut that hair though, idiots!

[DavidB6937]

Consistency is it. As with many of these guys they need focus and TK's support in pushing them forward. Let them build up momentum rather than just getting distracted by someone else. Give them a chance to really catch on.

[LaGoosh]

I don't really see him getting out the midcard. He has his strengths but typically he rarely has a singles match better than just ok. For a big guy he isn't particularly big. You can see far more upside in Big Bill or Powerhouse Hobbs than Wardlow I think.

Personally I'd have him ditch the Undisputed Kingdom stuff and form a tag team with Powerhouse Hobbs for a bit. Call them WAR POWER or something, have them throw around all the cruiserweights. Good times.

[Statto]

3 hours ago, Chili said:

I personally think Adam Cole and his merry men don't really work for me so I'd be up for them fucking it for Wardlow and him absolutely destroying them. He can even back up MJF when he returns for a tag match or something.

A split from Undisputed Kingdom seems the most likely outcome of this title shot to me, as during their initial promo as a group Cole said Wardlow was going to win the big belt - and then hand it over to him (to which Wardlow looked slightly miffed). 

So either he wins and refuses to hand over and they do a take on the Batista/Evolution angle, or he fails to win (more likely IMO) & they turn on him. 

And yeah, in the aftermath I wonder if they might revisit him & MJF as a pairing but as faces with a very different dynamic. 

[organizedkaos]

As I said in another thread I just don't see him being good enough to be at the top of the card. He's clearly improving his promos (finally, he used to be straight embarassing) and obvious he has a good look and athleticism but as LaGoosh said, he rarely actually has good matches. In retrospect the MJF thing, whilst satisfying, should really have been an opportunity for them to try him out at doing a more complicated match (i'm not saying it should have been presenting them as equals as much as letting them do anything beyond 10 of the same move)

I just never much understand their booking of him (which isn't an unusual thing to say of AEW). TNT title holder would've been a perfect spot for him. Makes him look important, have him defend against loads of people, use the fact your roster contains some of the best wrestlers on the planet as to improve him whilst keeping him visible and strong with TNT belt.

Instead (and I'm guessing maybe due to injuries) he kept winning and losing it mostly to other hench people.

Now they're pushing him towards World Title and I just don't see how that works. He's not good enough to put on AEW main event matches. Sure, Samoe Joe isn't exactly top of his game either but he's a legend and essentially his reign is going to be about transitioning the belt from MJF to probably Swerve. Wardlow is supposed to be one of their break out homegrowns, you need to make a World Title reign about him not about moving chess pieces around.

So, either he wins the title and AEW shows get noticeably worse/he gets exposed or he loses again and yet again momentum is killed just as it was seeming like he could get it back...

Edited March 7 by organizedkaos
Mr Oizo - Halfanedit

[RedRooster]

16 hours ago, LaGoosh said:

I don't really see him getting out the midcard. He has his strengths but typically he rarely has a singles match better than just ok.

To be fair, he's not worked with many top tier opponents in singles matches; certainly not to the point where I feel I have much of a grasp on what he's actually capable of if pushed. I'd like to see him in the Continental Classic, if they do it again - or in a situation where he really has to push himself in ring. He seems to have found himself on the mic, and I wouldn't be shocked if he has a bit more to offer in ring too. Working with Christian and Samoa Joe is a start, but I'd like to see him fact the likes of Danielson, Omega (when he's fit), Ospreay and Moxley both for his own benefit and to see if he's capable of stepping it up a gear. 

Although, as you rightly point out, he's not the biggest of big men, he's quite different from others on the AEW roster, so he stands out in that environment.