After watching Wardlow submit “The Samoan Submission Machine,” Samoa Joe, with his own move at Revolution, reporters were eager to as a few questions to “Mr. Mayhem” about what his second run with the AEW belt would look like.
Did he have any wrestlers in mind that he would like to wrestle? Or any other goals he would like to accomplish? Unfortunately, before the first question could even be asked, who but Powerhouse Hobbs, Wardlow’s first challenger for the TNT Title, “crashed” the interview to make his presence known ahead of their shared match on Dynamite.
“I’ve got a question, I understand you’re champ, but my question to you: what are you gonna do Wednesday when I kick your ass? What are you gonna do Wednesday when you have the shortest title reign, and this becomes mine, right?” Hobbs asked as he picked up the title and showed it to the crowd. “Looks pretty good on me, right? Wednesday night, Book of Hobbs. Three days, Wardlow. 72 hours. Enjoy.”
Once Hobbs left, leaving his gold “Face of the Revolution” ring behind, Wardlow used the opportunity to address his not-too-distant foe and anyone else who wants a shot at the “Wardog.”
“Did he really just tough my title?” Wardlow asked. “So last year, it was about this (the Face of the Revolution Gold Ring), and this year is this (the TNT Championship). At this point, I am Mr. Revolution, I am the Revolution at this point. And a litte history lesson, I don’t know if anyone remembers but my first time cashing (the Face of the Revolution Golden Ring) in, I was not successful. It will not be successful for Hobbs either.”
“But yeah, the last year I have finally been on my own and I haven’t even scratched the surface. I think this coming year is the true Year of Wardlow.”
Will Wardlow still feel this way, that 2023 is the Year of Wardlow, if he loses the title after three days to Powerhouse Hobbs mere miles away from his hometown of East Palo Alto, California? Or will his prediction prove true, and his revolutionary run extend long after the Pay-Per-View? Fans will find out on Wednesday.
Wardlow has a plan for his TNT Championship reign.
Later in his media availability session, Wardlow was asked about his plans for the TNT Championship and how he can heat his AEW run back up after a few months away. Wardlow's idea? Open challenge.
“Trust me, I’m still very hot.” Wardlow said via Fightful. “It’s gonna start this Wednesday with Hobbs. Tonight, I dethroned the King of Television. I don’t sit here to claim to be any type of a king. I sit here before you, stating I am simply just a man, claiming to be the best. I look very forward to proving to this entire roster that I am. There’s a lot of guys running around this roster running around this roster calling themselves that. With this title reign, my only goal is to prove them wrong, and it starts this Wednesday with Will Hobbs. I will go to extreme measures to ensure that I walk out still the champion, still the best. To further that, it’s a conversation I need to have with [Tony Khan], but I would like to do the TNT Open Challenge. I want them all. I want our whole roster, I want people from other rosters. When I say I’m the best, I mean it, and I’m looking to prove it.”
Now, as fans of AEW most certainly know, the TNT Championship has a long and fruitful history of being defended in open challenges, with wrestlers like Ricky Starks and Eddie Kingston earning their contracts in Rhodes' original run and Darby Allin most recently taking on whoever walked down to the ring when he was holding the Turner-branded strap. Could Wardlow run a successful challenge of his own during this run? Sure, Wardlow is a babyface who can work against pretty much any wrestler regardless of alignment and could be just as interesting in a match with Bandido as he would be against Lance Archer or even an external foe like Hikuleo of New Japan Pro Wrestling fame. But for that to happen, Wardlow has to still be champion in time for AEW Rampage, which, considering just how formidable a foe Hobbs has turned himself into, is a whole lot easier said than done. On Dynamite, two big, powerful heavyweights will enter the ring, but only one will leave as the TNT Champion.
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