The last time Taz wrestled a match was back in 2006, but that didn't prevent an uninformed AEW autograph hound from confusing him for Wardlow recently. The veteran wrestler-turned commentator has been working for All Elite since January of 2020 when he signed a multi-year deal with the company. WWE fans likely know him best for his time doing commentary with the company, although he did famously submit an undefeated Kurt Angle during his debut with the company.
He left WWE and took up a role as a commentator with IMPACT from 2009 to 2015. Wardlow, for his part, is a rising star on the AEW brand. The two men being wrestlers is about all they have in common from a visual standpoint, however. Taz is billed at 5-foot-9 and 240 pounds. He was a suplexing machine during his heyday to be certain, but Wardlow is booked at 6-foot-3 and weighs almost 270 pounds. Mistaking those two for one another takes a special kind of ignorance, as Taz shared on Twitter.
From his @OfficialTAZ handle, he shared the following: Fake fan @ hotel last night approached me w/HUGE stack of wrestling cards asked for my autograph…I said “no, your are selling these” he said “no sir”, hands me a card to sign, I say “it’s @RealWardlow", he says, “oh sorry, what’s your name”?…I said “f*** off”. Good times.
Both performers are mountains, and in day, Taz was as strong and tough as they come. But confuing the now 54-year-old former ECW star with Wardlow is hysterical. Autograph hounds hassle wrestlers for their signatures at airports and hotels freqently, with the likes of CM Punk and MJF calling attention to the fact during promos throughout their careers.
Taz has been holding down commentary duties for multiple AEW shows since signing his contract in 2020, and he'll continue to be in the roation with the likes of good ol' J.R., Excalibur and Tony Schiavone. Wardlow is coming off of a program that MJF that would have lead to a push much quicker if not for AEW x NJPW Forbidden door. With that pay-per-view in the rearview, he's now set to take on Scropio Sky for the TNT Championship on the June 6 edition of Wednesay Night Dynamite. The iron isn't totally cool on Wardlow yet after his showing at Double Or Nothing, but that win over Friedman feels like a long time ago. He beat up 20 security guards in an entertaining segment, and this fight with Sky could end up being the main event of the evening. Even if it isn't, AEW would be wise to put the belt on this rising star, even if Wardlow is thinking big picture right now.
Source: @OfficialTAZ