"I anticipated being the next Jeff Hardy" - Rising AEW star on his early aspirations as a pro wrestler

AEW star Wardlow recently revealed that he initially wanted to be like Jeff Hardy as he used to be a high-flyer during his youth.

Standing at 6'3 and weighing in at 265 pounds, Wardlow is a physical specimen who is capable of manhandling opponents, regardless of their size. He has a finishing move called "Powerbomb Symphony," a string of consecutive powerbombs.

However, Mr. Mayhem was also capable of executing aerial moves when needed, which is unusual for a man of his size. In an interview with The Wrestling Classic, Wardlow admitted that his initial goal in wrestling was to be like The Charismatic Enigma.

The AEW star shared that he was regularly shattered while practicing flips and twists during his junior and senior years in high school.

"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*s off and I’m gonna do really cool stuff.' And then I blow up during my Junior and Senior year [in high school]. 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 detailed. [H/T Fightful]

In an episode of Dynamite on April 27, Wardlow did the unthinkable by nailing his own version of Hardy's Swanton Bomb to Lance Archer. Since then, he hasn't made the move, but it will be interesting to see if it will eventually be a part of his arsenal.

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Wardlow had a backstage moment with Jeff Hardy months ago

As mentioned earlier, Wardlow faced Lance Archer and performed a Swanton Bomb which garnered a positive response from Jeff Hardy.

In his appearance on Superstar Crossover last May, Mr. Mayhem recalled his locker room encounter with The Charismatic Enigma. Wardlow said that Jeff made him smile after commending his version of the Swanton.

“After I did the Swanton against Lance Archer, I’m in the locker room and Jeff comes up, you know, gives me knuckles and goes, ‘That was a nice Swanton. Very graceful’ and I stood there with this smile on my face for about ten minutes, speechless. So to have Jeff Hardy compliment my Swanton Bomb was absolutely insane."

Hardy is currently suspended by AEW due to his DUI arrest last June, while Wardlow will face TNT Champion Scorpio Sky tomorrow on Dynamite for the said title. Meanwhile, Jeff is definitely one of Wardlow's influences as a wrestler and sharing a moment with him must be a great feeling for the latter.