Wardlow AEW return – Wardlow says his long absence from AEW may soon be coming to an end, as he confirmed he is close to returning following multiple setbacks over the past two years.

Wardlow has been away from AEW television since March 2024, aside from a brief appearance at the AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door pay-per-view in August 2025. Shortly after that return, reports surfaced that he suffered a torn pectoral muscle, adding to an already difficult stretch.

Speaking during an interview with BCP+, Wardlow addressed fans directly and shared an update on his recovery, while also reflecting on the challenges he has faced.

“I miss him too. I miss Wardlow so bad. Like I said, it’s been over two years since I’ve wrestled. So, it has been a rough two years. Basically everything I have loved and cared about was taken away from me almost all at once. 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. Because I just kind of hid under a rock for a while… So I apologize to the 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. I just want to feel that energy. Positive or negative. I just wanna feel that energy and get back to doing what I love, and we’re very, very close to being ready…”

Wardlow also detailed the extent of his injury history, clarifying that the torn pec is the first injury that has forced him to take time away from wrestling.

“Obviously, I’m healing up from the torn pec, which most people know about. I also wanna state, because there’s a lot of discourse online about this, about injuries, right? This torn pec is the first injury in my entire life, indies included, that I’ve ever taken time off for wrestling. Any time you saw me absent before the car accident, any time you saw me absent was never because of an injury. It was creative or there just wasn’t anything going on at the time and I was sitting at home. Did I tweak my knee? Yes, and I continued wrestling. Did I tweak my hamstring? Yes. I continued wrestling.”

He went on to describe a serious car accident in April 2024, which left him in significant pain but did not stop him from traveling for work.

“Then I got into that car accident, and I’m so dumb I would have continued to wrestle. Most people after that car accident would have been in a hospital bed. I didn’t even go to the hospital. I got in my car, went to the airport, and I flew across the country for work, and I had to stand in the bathroom most of the flight because it hurt so bad to sit down. When I got to work, I had our doctors take a look at me and my hip was actually popped out of place, and I flew there with my hip out of place which is why it hurt so bad to sit down, and they popped my hip right back into place right there, which I don’t think I’ve ever made the noise I made when that happened. I have a pretty high pain tolerance. Boy, did that hurt.”

Wardlow said he initially planned to keep working, but after another planned storyline was canceled, he chose to step away and focus on recovery.

“So it was the car accident that really messed me up, and I was gonna continue to work, which maybe wouldn’t have been smart but I was gonna continue to work, and then the storyline that was planned got thrown in the garbage for like the second or third time, and that’s when I ultimately decided, okay, I’m gonna go home. The storyline that I was looking forward to for the second time got canned. I can barely walk at this point after the car accident. So I finally decided to take some time off, which was the first time ever in my career.”

During his time away, Wardlow also took part in the American Gladiators project, crediting AEW and Tony Khan for allowing him to pursue the opportunity.

“So, thank you to AEW and thank you to Tony Khan for giving me the blessing to go do Gladiators, and then yes, obviously a bummer. I come back immediately, tear my pec. But, we are most definitely going to come back the biggest, baddest version of Wardlow that anybody’s ever seen.”

While no official return date has been confirmed by AEW, Wardlow made it clear that his comeback is close and that he is eager to return to the ring.

Wardlow Says AEW Return Is Near After Injury and Personal Setbacks

AdvertisementAdvertisement