Shelby Reeves/Chillicothe Gazette / USA TODAY NETWORK

Reason For Wardlow's Lengthy Absence From AEW Reportedly Revealed

Originally posted on Wrestling on SI | By Rick Ucchino | Last updated Jun 3, 2025 4:45 PM ET

Wardlow has been out of action for over a year now and a new report is shining a light on why he's been gone from AEW for so long.

The former TNT Champion has been off of television since he lost a world title match to Samoa Joe in March of last year. Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select is reporting that Wardlow suffered a labrum injury around that time and was then involved in a car accident during his time away from the company.

"It was made clear to us that the car accident didn’t cause the injury, but made it worse," Ross Sapp reported Tuesday afternoon.

'THIS IS WAR' - Wardlow

Watch #AEWCollision on TNT!@RealWardlow pic.twitter.com/IpBlMcqzYp
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) March 3, 2024

Wardlow was spotted backstage at AEW Revolution back in March and has since been medically cleared to compete, but there's something else that's been keeping away from AEW programming in recent months.

"Wardlow landed what is said to be a “very appropriate and special” television role in the earlier part of 2025," Ross Sapp said." Upon meeting with Tony Khan, all parties agreed that it wouldn’t serve anyone well to just bring him back briefly and take him off again for the TV role."

SRS has also learned that there is a significant amount of time left on his current deal with AEW. So while a return date for Wardlow is currently unknown, he's not going anywhere else any time soon.

This article first appeared on Wrestling on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: