Backstage News On American Gladiators Related Absence Of Elusive AEW Star Wardlow

Amidst his on-screen absence from AEW television, Wardlow has still managed a backstage presence for a few events, with Fightful Select reporting the latest one as the August 6 episode of "AEW Dynamite," which emanated from his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. Prior to that, the former TNT Champion had been spotted backstage at AEW All In on July 12.

Also amidst his AEW hiatus, Wardlow was also as a gladiator on the rebooted "American Gladiators" series. In mid-July, a report indicated that two seasons worth of filming for "American Gladiators" had already been completed in England. Fightful Select has since corroborated this, while adding that AEW has begun creative discussions on how to reintegrate Wardlow into their television product. Specifics of those conversations are not known at this time.

Alongside Wardlow, a number of the wrestlers will appear on "American Gladiators." Fellow gladiators include Kamille, former WWE star Rick Boogs (aka Eric Bugenhagen), former OVW Women's Champion J-Rod, and former TNA star Mr. Pectacular (aka Jessie Godderz). Former WWE Champion Mike "The Miz" Mizanin serves as the host of the show, which is set to stream on Prime Video. Despite the mixing of talents from different wrestling companies, neither WWE nor AEW reportedly expressed a concern with it. 

Wardlow last appeared at AEW Dynasty in April 2024 when he ran interference for Roderick Strong, his then-Undisputed Kingdom stablemate, amidst his International Championship defense against Kyle O'Reilly. Wardlow's last in-ring outing came the month before when he challenged Samoa Joe, albeit unsuccessfully, for the AEW World Championship at "AEW Dynamite: Big Business."