Wardlow Originally Wanted To Be The Next Jeff Hardy

While he is one of All Elite Wrestling's top heavyweights that dominates opponents with power moves and his Powerbomb Symphony, that wasn't the original plan for Wardlow. 

Speaking on The Wrestling Classic, Wardlow revealed that he was originally a backyard wrestler who wanted to be the next Jeff Hardy. 

"I don't really comprehend how I look. I understand I'm 6'3, I'm 265 [pounds] and I look like a Viking comic book character. I feel like people judge me on that, and I think a lot of people, especially in the world of wrestling assume that [I'm] some dude that didn't make it as an actor, didn't make it as a professional athlete, didn't make it as a bodybuilder, whatever he was trying to pursue so he's just giving this a shot. Nope, I'm just like every 5'5, 160-pound backyarder because I was a 5'5, 160-pound backyarder. I was a runt, bro," said Wardlow.

"I anticipated being the next Jeff Hardy, that was my initial goal in wrestling. So I spent years doing Swantons and teaching my body to flip and twist and corkscrew. I was like 'Oh yeah, I'm gonna sell my a** off and I'm gonna do really cool stuff.' And then I blow up during my junior and senior year [in high school]," he continued. 

"Your body, muscle memory, your body still remembers that stuff. So I spent all of these years teaching myself high-flying stuff and then blew up physically. So I'm capable of doing things guys my size shouldn't be capable of."

Wardlow has showcased some of that high-flying ability inside the squared circle, including hitting some Swanton Bombs after receiving permission from Jeff Hardy.

The War Dog will be in action on tonight's episode of AEW Dynamite and he is scheduled to go one-on-one with Scorpio Sky for the TNT Championship in a Street Fight. 

H/T to Fightful