Wardlow officially became a two-time TNT Champion at AEW Revolution on Sunday night, knocking former champ Samoa Joe out with a rear-naked choke. “Mr. Mayhem” lost to the title to Joe in a triple threat back at Full Gear and failed to regain it in late December, giving Joe the opportunity to shear off his trademark ponytail. But tonight’s win finally gives the big man some revenge, even if it might be short-lived.
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The commentary team was quick to point out that Wardlow will have to defend his title this coming Wednesday against Powerhouse Hobbs, the winner of this year’s Face of the Revolution. If Wardlow loses, he will set the record for the shortest reign in the title’s young history.
Wardlow spoke with ComicBook earlier this week and reflected on his big push in 2022, which included his first reign as TNT Champion. He admitted that he mentally struggled during that time, but his recent hiatus helped him gain perspective.
“Man, I think about this a lot, and I was just thinking about this very in-depth recently because I feel like I took it for granted a little bit. Few reasons,” he began. “So I’m a negative thinker, I’m my biggest critic. I don’t think at the time I allowed myself to comprehend just how big I was and how popular and how just outrageous the ideal of Wardlow was at the time.
“Also, I think there’s a little bit of truth to Max (MJF) calling himself the devil. Right around the time Max and I started our feud, I really just lost myself, and I just wasn’t myself in that whole stretch of time. I was just a different person and I was a ball of stress and I really couldn’t focus or grasp what my life was or should have been,” Wardlow continued. “And even after I beat Max, the devil wasn’t gone. He still had his claws in my back. And the next night, here I am, Wardlow getting my name chanted by a sold-out crowd like we haven’t seen in decades. And the next (episode) I’m back to doing nothing and Max is dropping this bombshell of a promo and now the show’s still all about him. I beat him, but I didn’t beat him. So there’s a lot to be said there. All’s I’ll say is I’ll dance with the devil again, and that time will come and things will be a little different next time.”
