Wardlow Recalls WWE Tryout, Training With Kurt Angle For His Final Run

Before Wardlow joined AEW, WWE had the opportunity to get him under contract.

Wardlow has become a featured player in AEW, linking up with MJF and now part of The Inner Circle. However, he could have been in the WWE system had they inked him to a contract after his tryout with the company.

“I did have a tryout and I smoked that tryout,” Wardlow said on AEW Unrestricted. “I was literally the only person there in a suit. It was mind-blowing. Dudes were there in shorts and t-shirts. That’s because they’re not recruiting wrestlers, they’re recruiting ex-NFL athletes or college wrestlers. People that have never watched wrestling, don’t’ care about wrestling. The comments these people were making made me sick to my stomach given the opportunity. Of course, my roommate was like, ‘Man, I’ve even watched wrestling, I don’t even like it.’ I’m just like, ‘Get out of my room. Why are you here?’ It was his second tryout. These people are getting multiple chances.”

He continued, “I smoked the tryout and was like, ‘I have this in the bag.’ So much so that I sold my motorcycle, sold my house, got rid of everything because I was like, ‘I’m going to put everything into moving to Florida.’ When the e-mail came in that I was not (signed), I pulled over on the side of the road. I just couldn’t believe it. Then, I started training personally with Kurt Angle, when he was making his comeback for his final matches. We clicked in the ring really well and he expressed that he would have a conversation with a certain someone there about bringing me in and he told me, ‘it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.'”

Wardlow went on to express his happiness that he got an opportunity with AEW and didn’t wait around for WWE to come calling again.

Cody Rhodes previously revealed that Britt Baker was the one who pushed Wardlow into AEW. You can find his full comments on how Baker got Wardlow into AEW by clicking here.

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