Wardlow is 67 on the charts, 69 in your hearts.
AEW TNT Champion Wardlow was a guest on this week’s Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast, and the two AEW stars (and co-host Jon Alba) took some time to speak about the 2022 Pro Wrestling Illustrated 500 list. Alba explained that Wardlow is 67 on this year’s list, then also shared that Matt Hardy is 180 (up from 238 in 2021), which he noted was three spots ahead of Nick Jackson and four ahead of Matt Jackson on the 2022 list.
Hardy said some people focus too much on their respective ranking, and should focus on a different number that comes more than once a year.
Hardy: “I told these people earlier, I said a lot of people get so focused and they really zone in and have tunnel vision on these PWI numbers. They’re worried about the wrong numbers, brother! The numbers you should be worried about is your paycheck every other week.”
Wardlow: “Now, I will say this, I agree. But as somebody growing up buying the PWI magazine, that is very cool to hear. And you just told me — I didn’t know that [where I ranked this year]. Last year I was like 390-something [he was actually 218 in 2021, 397 in 2020], so to go from [that] to a year later and I’m 67? 69 would have been great, but 67’s nice.”
Hardy then offered some thoughts on why Wardlow has been able to connect with fans and climb the ranks in AEW and on the pages of Pro Wrestling Illustrated.
Hardy: “He’s very relatable. I think also, long-time wrestling fans would probably look at him from his physical appearance and go, ‘Oh, he’s a ‘Goldberg’ guy, he’s a muscle guy.’ He’s not going to come off the top rope, he’s not going to be super athletic, but he’s the total package when it comes to doing all of that. At the end of the day, he’s just a cool motherfucker, man. He’s a cool dude. You hang around him and you just witness his actions and his body language, the way he speaks and looks, he’s just super cool. He’s young, he’s healthy, he’s super athletic and he gets it. When people have all of those things together, that’s the recipe for success. Obviously, on AEW programming, people have really got behind him and he started to catch fire, and I’m almost a little sad that it slowed down a little bit after the whole deal with MJF. But he’ll get back there, I’m very confident and I know he’s got a big fan and supporter in Tony Khan, which is one of the most important things. It’s going to be good. When it’s all said and done, he’s going to be a huge, huge star.”
Wardlow thanked Hardy for the endorsement before adding that he feels like some people stereotype him as an asshole or a former NFL reject. He said wrestling isn’t a backup and it’s been his “day one” plan from the start.
Fans can check out the Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast on AdFreeShows.com now for subscribers. The show is also available to the public on Fridays.
Read More: Wardlow: I’m Ready For The World To Feel A Hungrier, More Intense Version Of Myself
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