Wardlow and MJF have been among the many highlights of AEW programming lately. And Wardlow has plans for when he finally gets his hands on MJF.
Wardlow has been trying to get his hands on MJF for weeks of AEW programming now, and it sounds like he knows exactly what he wants to do to his rival once that finally happens. The War Dog has been working for Max since entering the company in 2019. He reluctantly did his contractee’s bidding over the years, working as a bodyguard for him instead of AEW itself in storyline.
Then MJF’s dog collar match with CM Punk went down at AEW Revolution. Friedman summoned Wardlow to the squared circle and asked for the Dynamite Diamond Ring—a gimmick MJF has used to end more than a fair share of his matches—but Wardlow had “misplaced” the weapon. This allowed Punk to finish off Freidman and secure the win, turning Wardlow face and setting up a feud with MJF in the process.
It was all wonderfully executed, cleanly finishing one feud while immediately setting up two others. It aimed Punk at a title match with Adam “Hangman” Page while setting MJF and Wardlow down the path towards a fight fans have been clamoring for. Wardlow spoke to Josh Martinez of the Superstar Crossover podcast recently and conversed about what he plans to do once he is finally able to get in the ring with MJF. “Dude, the thought of powerbombing Max makes me drool,” Wardlow told Martinez. “I obsess over it. I cannot wait to powerbomb that kid. I’m going to powerbomb him until my arms go numb.” (h/t to Fightful for the transcription)
That’s terrible news for MJF, based on the amount of destruction and chaos Wardlow has brought with him over the last month or so. He’s beaten up seemingly every security guard that AEW has employed while taking on various opponents of Friedman’s choosing. For instance, Wardlow was tasked with wrestling W. Morrissey from IMPACT (and formally Big Cass in the WWE) on the May 4 edition of AEW Dynamite. That ended in another victory for The War Dog, leading to a contract signing with MJF on the May 11 edition of Dynamite.
That figures to be an explosive confrontation. The two haven’t been near each other since their fallout at Revolution, and it remains to be seen exactly what kinds of stipulations MJF will attempt to inject into their match—potentially at AEW Double or Nothing on May 29 in Las Vegas. Odds are good that Friedman will do everything he can to tip the odds in his favor, but with Wardlow so hungry for the match, it might not matter all that much. This has been another excellent feud, building Wardlow to a legitimate superstar level while allowing MJF to continue to show why he’s among the best heels in the business. Powerbombs away.
