Tony Khan to hire recently released WWE star as Wardlow's tag team partner in AEW? Looking at the chances

Wardlow has not competed inside an AEW ring for over a year now. The status of the fan favorite amid his ongoing hiatus in the Tony Khan-led promotion has been a recurring topic of conversation on social media.

While the company's singles division is absolutely stacked as of late, the All Elite head honcho could bring the War Dog back on television as one half of a dominant tag team, and as his partner, Khan could bring in none other than recently released WWE Superstar Braun Strowman.

Wardlow was last seen in action on last year's Dynamite: Big Business, where he unsuccessfully challenged Samoa Joe for the AEW World Championship. The Cleveland native's marked absence from All Elite programming through most of 2024 has led to much speculation and criticism regarding his booking and position in the company.

One of the 37-year-old's then-stablemates, Matt Taven, had claimed last year that the star had been dealing with knee issues, which veteran journalist Dave Meltzer recently confirmed on X.

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Meanwhile, in Wardlow's absence, The Undisputed Kingdom recently disbanded, leading to question marks over the powerhouse's future. Furthermore, despite his in-ring proficiency, the men's singles division in AEW currently may not have space for Mr. Mayhem from a creative standpoint. Its tag team division, on the other hand, could use some more fresh faces to liven it up, and Wardlow could be one of them. For his tag partner, Tony Khan could rope in Braun Strowman.

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The Monster of All Monsters was released by WWE once again earlier today. As one of the Stamford-based company's much-showcased former superstars, Strowman would no doubt be a huge acquisition for All Elite Wrestling. Although he has no notable history with Wardlow, the former Universal Champion can believably make for a dominant pairing with the former TNT Champion.

Furthermore, Wardlow and Strowman would no doubt stand out as a credible threat to The Hurt Syndicate's AEW World Tag Team Title reign.

What happened to Wardlow's former AEW stable?

In Wardlow's absence, The Undisputed Kingdom members seemingly decided to go their separate ways. Days after beating Daniel Garcia to become the new TNT Champion at Dynasty 2025, Adam Cole announced that he, Roderick Strong, and Kyle O'Reilly would go by the name The Paragon moving forward in AEW.

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Mike Bennett and Matt Taven, on the other hand, have seemingly returned to competing as The Kingdom in ROH.

About the author

Anurag is an AEW writer for Sportskeeda Wrestling. He holds a BA and MA degree in English along with a TEFL certification to teach English. Before Sportskeeda, he worked as a Content and Correspondence writer at Nayabad Titas, a theater group. He has also worked as a English language tutor.

To ensure complete accuracy, he uses internet resources, social media platforms, and especially pieces composed by his peers to find solid, verified information that he presents as objectively as possible. Thanks to his academic background, he can research different subjects thoroughly.

Anurag's interest in wrestling began as a child. He watched RAW and Smackdown frequently from age 10 or 11 and was officially hooked by the YES Movement story in WWE heading into WrestleMania 30.

As a lifelong wrestling fan and lover of stories, Anurag would read news, articles, and other content about the talent and events he enjoyed watching. His understanding of the business continued to grow with time, and his interest in the art and sport of wrestling led him to pursue a career as a writer.

Apart from writing, he loves to read books, watch movies and television programs, play and listen to music, and write poetry and fiction.

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Edited by Anurag Mukherjee