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Reason For Wardlow's Lengthy Absence From AEW Reportedly Revealed

It's been over a year since Wardlow last competed in All Elite Wrestling, and we now have
Rick Ucchino|
Wardlow on Dynamite
Wardlow on Dynamite | Lee South - All Elite Wrestling

Wardlow has been out of action for over a year now and a new report is shining a light on why he's been gone from AEW for so long.

The former TNT Champion has been off of television since he lost a world title match to Samoa Joe in March of last year. Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select is reporting that Wardlow suffered a labrum injury around that time and was then involved in a car accident during his time away from the company.

"It was made clear to us that the car accident didn’t cause the injury, but made it worse," Ross Sapp reported Tuesday afternoon.

Wardlow was spotted backstage at AEW Revolution back in March and has since been medically cleared to compete, but there's something else that's been keeping away from AEW programming in recent months.

"Wardlow landed what is said to be a “very appropriate and special” television role in the earlier part of 2025," Ross Sapp said." Upon meeting with Tony Khan, all parties agreed that it wouldn’t serve anyone well to just bring him back briefly and take him off again for the TV role."

SRS has also learned that there is a significant amount of time left on his current deal with AEW. So while a return date for Wardlow is currently unknown, he's not going anywhere else any time soon.

Wardlow
AEW

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Rick Ucchino
RICK UCCHINO

Rick Ucchino is the Assistant Editor & Content Coordinator for The Takedown on SI. He also works full-time for 700WLW Radio in Cincinnati, Ohio as a local news and sports anchor, in addition to his time covering the Cincinnati Bengals for Sirius XM. Rick has been on the professional wrestling beat since 2019, having provided coverage for a number of outlets, including Fightful, SB Nation’s Cageside Seats and the Bleav Podcast Network. With an educational background in theater, creative writing and journalism, Rick focuses primarily on the storytelling aspect of pro wrestling, but he’s no stranger to the squared circle himself. He had the privilege of training with former WWE & WCW cruiserweight Jimmy Wang Yang for nearly two years and retired early due to back issues with a perfect 1-0 record in singles competition. Rick is a married father of two incredibly adorable children, who are budding pro wrestling fans themselves. Much to the chagrin of their mother. You can reach Rick at rwucchino@gmail.com

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