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Wardlow is back in All Elite Wrestling.
The former TNT Champion appeared following Kazuchika Okada’s Unified Championship defense against Swerve Strickland. Okada used a steel chair to damage the knee of his challenger and that’s when Wardlow returned to strike. He then aligned himself with The Don Callis Family, but not without a staredown from Konosuke Takeshita. It appears that this move was made to write Swerve off television.
Wardlow Returns at AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door
Last week’s AEW Dynamite commentary mentioned that Swerve had been checked out for a knee injury. As reported by Fightful Select, he’s been battling a torn meniscus since 2019. He was able to rest the injury and return to the ring, but it appears that he has reaggravated it. There is a possibility he will require surgery, keeping him off television for an undetermined amount of time.
After losing the TNT Championship in late 2023, Wardlow struggled to find a place on the card and the momentum fizzled out. Heading into 2024, he earned a #1 Contender’s opportunity for the World Championship held by Samoa Joe, but he lost on AEW Dynamite. He was briefly aligned with the Undisputed Kingdom when Adam Cole was revealed as The Devil, but that ship ran its course too.
Around that time, Matt Taven revealed Wardlow had been battling an injury which was partly why he hadn’t been in the ring. “Wardlow’s out with a knee injury, and as a guy with plenty of knee injuries in the past, they can be tricky, “Taven told the Stick To Wrestling podcast. “You start to think they’re one thing, then they’re another. You think, ‘Oh, I can get away with doing this or that,’ and it seems to be more serious. I think he’s just trying to figure out the best treatment plan to get him back on track.”
Wardlow wasn’t the only star to return at the pay-per-view. A former AEW Women’s World Champion who has been out of the ring since May, aligned with Queen Aminata.
Stay tuned to VICE for updates on AEW/NJPW Forbidden Door.
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