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Batista is one of the biggest crossover stars in WWE history. AEW's Wardlow is quite pleased with being compared to The Animal.
Batista started his career as a bodyguard and then the muscle for WWE faction Evolution. It's pretty similar to Wardlow's trajectory, who began his AEW career by acting as MJF's bodyguard and then became the muscle of The Pinnacle.
Speaking on the Bleav in Pro Wrestling podcast, Wardlow expressed his delight with the comparisons to Batista:
“You look at Batista, he started as Deacon Batista wearing that same suit, silent. I started with the suit. Silent. Then he turned into Evolution. I had been in the Pinnacle. Him and Triple H, me and Max. These things, that’s just crazy. You can’t write this stuff. It’s crazy how life has worked out.” (H/T - WrestlingInc)
Wardlow went on to talk about how Batista inspired him at a young age:
“It just makes me smile. You know, I, being a junior in high school, I just started growing. I’m 170 pounds and I’m, like, ‘alright, I’m finally starting to grow some muscle.’ But you look at somebody like Batista and you’re like, ‘I can never. I’m going to try to get as close to that as possible, but, like, what are the realistic odds?’ I worked my butt off to get to as close to a Dave Batista level as possible. To go on Twitter and see side-by-side pictures and comparisons, and people comparing me to him is, it’s just such a cool feeling. You know, Dave is somebody who I haven’t met and would love to meet to thank him, because he’s still somebody to this day that motivates me, you know? He’s still doing big things in life and he still motivates me and pushes me to this day without him knowing it.”
Wardlow lost to Scorpio Sky on AEW Dynamite
Wardlow earned a shot at the TNT Championship when he grabbed the Brass Ring at the Revolution pay-per-view. He defeated Keith Lee, Orange Cassidy, Christian Cage, Powerhouse Hobbs, and Ricky Starks to achieve that opportunity.
However, MJF & Shawn Spears interfered during Wardlow's match against Scorpio Sky, denying him his first-ever title in AEW.
