Wardlow‘s similar rise to WWE’s Batista happened organically and wasn’t the original plan.
Ahead of his steel cage match with Shawn Spears on Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite, Wardlow sat down with Shakiel Mahjouri of CBS Sports to discuss a wide variety of subjects. When asked about the parallels to his current storyline with Batista departing Evolution in WWE, Wardlow said it came about that way without them even realizing it.
“The crazy thing [is] that we did without even realizing it,” Wardlow said. “We kind of mirrored it in a way. It was very different, but also the same. The crazy thing is this wasn’t my idea. I didn’t have any say so in this. It just organically happened. My career just seems to be mimicking a little bit of a Batista’s. You can compare The Pinnacle to Evolution and you can compare myself and Max to Triple H [and] Batista. It has really unfolded very similar to how that did. It’s a real special thing because we didn’t plan it that way.”
Wardlow’s rise in popularity over the last six months or so rebelling against MJF has been nothing short of incredible. This isn’t something that he takes lightly and says it’s a dream come true.
“This is the ultimate dream come true,” Wardlow said. “It’s one thing to have your own action figure, to be in a video game, to be a professional wrestler. But for me, the real dream is having an arena full of people chanting my name consistently week after week wanting to see Wardlow. That’s still something I’m trying to comprehend because it’s something that I’ve thought about and I’ve created in my head since I was literally in elementary school.
“I’ve thought about this. So I have to take the time to really sit back and go, ‘This is happening. This is real. It’s happening right now.’ It’s truly the best feeling in the entire world and nothing can compare to it. You know some things are going to work. I always describe what I’m experiencing in life right now as this weird combination of, ‘of course this is happening. I’ve thought about this my entire life. We knew this was going to happen’ mixed with an equal amount of ‘Holy crap, I can’t believe this is actually happening.’ It is a unique mix of emotions.”
Funny enough, the original evolution of Wardlow in All Elite Wrestling is quite the departure from what we’re seeing right now, which Wardlow described as being a bit more of a suave and sophisticated character.
“So the original plans for my character are essentially still what they are with just a little bit altered with the Max thing. Wardlow is Wardlow. He is Ric Flair meets James Bond meets John Wick,” Wardlow said. “Wardlow is always going to be dressed nice. He’s always going to be in a suit. He’s always going to have a beautiful lady on his arm, and he’s always going to be whooping asses. That’s what you can always expect from Wardlow. Essentially, that’s really where we’re at. We just gave Wardlow the role of the bodyguard protecting Max.”
READ MORE: Wardlow Is A Huge Superman Mark, But The ‘Man Of Steel’ Shot Wasn’t Planned
What do you make of Wardlow’s comments? Can you envision him as a mix of Ric Flair, James Bond, and John Wick? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
