Wardlow appears to be on his way back to AEW. AEW aired a video hyping Wardlow’s return during Saturday’s All Out pay-per-view at NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. The video did not give a return date.
Wardlow has not appeared on AEW programming since August 24, 2025, when he returned at Forbidden Door at The O2 in London after more than a year away. After Kazuchika Okada retained the AEW Unified Championship against Swerve Strickland, Wardlow attacked Prince Nana and Strickland and was embraced on the stage by Don Callis and the rest of the Don Callis Family.
On September 8, 2025, it was reported that Wardlow had torn his pectoral muscle during that segment. PWTorch, which confirmed Fightful’s initial report, said the injury was believed to have happened when he clotheslined Nana. PWTorch also reported that Wardlow had been slated for a significant push, including an AEW World Championship match with “Hangman” Adam Page later that year.
WARDLOW’S RETURN LOOMS!
Watch #AEWAllOut LIVE on HBO Max PPV pic.twitter.com/eH0qxMKPW0
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) September 27, 2026
Out of the Ring Since 2024
Saturday’s video comes more than two and a half years after Wardlow’s last AEW match. He lost to Samoa Joe in an AEW World Championship match at Dynamite Big Business on March 13, 2024.
Fightful reported in August 2025 that Wardlow had been sidelined after that match with a shoulder injury that was worsened by a car accident, and that he was medically cleared earlier in 2025. Rather than bring him back right away, AEW allowed him to film the American Gladiators reboot for Prime Video first, so he would not have to be written off television shortly after returning. Fightful said the production recorded two seasons’ worth of content. The show, hosted by The Miz, premiered on Prime Video on April 17, 2026.
Wardlow gave a different account of his time away in an interview with BCP+ in April. He said the pectoral tear was the first injury of his career that forced him to take time off, and described a stretch where he lost much of what mattered to him at once.
“Basically everything I have loved and cared about was taken away from me almost all at once,” Wardlow said. “From my friend to my dog to wrestling to the ability to work out.”
“I mean, everything I loved was taken from me, and I miss wrestling so much, I can’t even put it into words, and I do wanna apologize to the fans for my absence, and for completely going ghost on social media,” he said.
He said he was “very, very close to being ready” to return, and made a promise to fans.
“I will never be absent again, and I am so excited to get back to wrestling in front of a live crowd and at this point, I don’t care if they’re cheering me, I don’t care if they’re booing me,” Wardlow said.
Fightful reported in May that he had been backstage at several AEW events. Wardlow is a three-time TNT Champion. He first won the title from Scorpio Sky in a street fight on the July 6, 2022 episode of Dynamite, and his last reign ended in June 2023.
AEW has not announced when Wardlow will make his first appearance.
