Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Wardlow - The Man Behind AEW's Mr. Mayhem

Episode Date: January 25, 2022

Wardlow (@realwardlow) is a professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling. He joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about signing with AEW, his diet and workout regimen, what he has learned from being paired with MJF, what his WWE tryout was like and why it almost made him quit wrestling, his goals for his career, what it was like working with CM Punk and much more! This episode is brought to you by Athletic Greens. Get a FREE 1-year supply of immune-supporting Vitamin D and 5 FREE travel packs with your first purchase at: http://athleticgreens.com/insight If you enjoyed this episode, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast/iTunes? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests. For more information about CVV and INSIGHT go to: https://podcast.chrisvanvliet.com Follow CVV on social media:Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVlietTwitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVlietFacebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVlietYouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVlietTikTok: tiktok.com/@Chris.VanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Oh man, welcome back to another audio adventure here on Insight. I'm CVV, Chris Van Vlee. Thank you so much for being with us on this episode, and it's brought to you by Athletic Greens. Go to Athletic Greens.com slash Insight for a special offer. Love that stuff. That is literally the first thing I drink every morning. Athletic Greens.com slash Insight.

This is such a good conversation because you see such a different side of Michael Wardlow here. Yeah, that's his full name. Michael Wardlow. On TV, he's menacing and he's quiet and you feel like he might snap at any time. And then when you talk to him in person, quite the opposite. And I'm going to make a prediction here.

2022 is going to be Wardlow's year. What a January he's already had. So the next 11 months, man, he's unstoppable. Give him a follow on social media. He's at Real Wardlow. You can find me at Chris Van Fleet. And if it's your first time here, if this is your first episode, first of all, thanks for being with us. And it'd be so great if you could click subscribe or follow wherever you're listening to this right now.

Our fan of the week is Tommy G 1319, who says, great to listen to while pooping. I love listening to CVV's podcast while I poop. Thank you for making poop enjoyable. Started listening on YouTube last year, moved over to the Apple podcast, and never went back. have listened to every single episode on the podcast and on YouTube. Keep it up. Woot, woot. Well, thank you, Tommy.

Glad that we're listening on the toilet right now. Hope it's a good poop, by the way. But thank you for taking the time to leave a review. I read one on every single episode from Apple Podcasts. And if you have Spotify, they now have a rating system on there. So go into the show. You'll see the stars there on the left. Click it, leave five stars.

It'd be so awesome and so appreciated. if you could do that. Let's dive into this, shall we? Ladies and gentlemen, Wardlow. I've wanted to do this one for a long time, so I mean, here we are. Yeah, same, man. I see you do a lot of big interviews with all the top names, so I've just been patiently waiting. Well, here you are, and I think it's so interesting because on TV, you're kind of an enigma because you speak with your actions. You don't speak that much with your words. So I think, there might actually be a lot of fans who this might be the first time they're ever hearing you speak this is very true so yeah i'm excited to to get this side of me into the light as well by the way

how could how does a human become this large uh well i think i have a little bit to thank my father for that because um i don't think i ever made it taller than him i think he always had me by at least a half an inch but maybe today I would have been taller than him. So he was a big dude, but I started working out seriously when I was a junior in high school. And trust me, I did everything wrong for years, but over the years, dialing in the diet and proper form and just really honing the craft of bodybuilding and training. I've been, as you could see, working my butt off to get this big. Who were your inspirations to make you start working out? Because everybody has a story, whether it's an athlete or it's a family member, but who was it for you?

Dave Batista. Okay. Yeah. Dave Batista. So I was in junior in high school in 2005. 2005, Dave Batista was evolution, peak evolution era

starting to branch out on his own. And I was just amazed by him. And I personally think he has the best physique in the history of professional wrestling. If you're just talking about looks alone, his physique was just astounding to me. And I just looked at him and I was like, yeah, that's what we're going for.

He's like 300 plus pounds, which is insane. Dude, he's a monster. So I still struggle to accept the fact that I'll never be quite as gigantic as Batista, but as close as I can get up happy with. Well, I think you're getting there. I mean, you are, we are very large man. We might be close. I'm, one of the things that we have in common is Cleveland.

I actually spent five years in Cleveland. I was working as an entertainment. reporter for the CBS affiliate in Cleveland. I'm still a diehard Browns fan for better or for worse as a result of that. We can talk all day about that. It's painful sometimes, isn't it? Yeah, I'm a cowboys and a Browns fan, so I'm a double loser. What would you say it was about growing up in Cleveland that really helped to shape the person that you are now? So, I currently live about 15 minutes east of Cleveland. Growing up, I was actually-

Which city, by the way? What's that? Which city do you live in now? Will it be? Will it be? I know it well. Yeah, yeah. But growing up, I was born and raised about 40 minutes east of Cleveland in a little

town called Middlefield. I know that one as well. Do you really? Yeah. Okay, that's rare because it is such a, was small little Amish town. I mean, my graduating class was 80 people. You know, we had Amish people at our school.

Like it was a very, very small town. Grew up pretty poor. So small town, not a lot of money, not a lot to do. So we would entertain ourselves by going in the backyard and wrestling. You know, there's days where we would. I'd go down the road to my buddy's house and we would take every mattress while his parents and sister was at work. We would take everybody's mattress off the bed and drag them down to the backyard, put them on a tarp so we didn't get grass stains on them and then put tarp over them

and we would just have a field there. With your size is probably playing a lot of sports growing up. So what were your sports? All right. So two things with this. I love basketball, baseball, football. Still love playing all of those to this day, especially basketball. Basketball was like my real passion. However, it was not always this big. Believe it or not, I was actually the runt up until like about my junior year,

I finally started to grow taller. And that's what made me go, okay, I'm getting taller. Let's see if we can get bigger. So I really didn't even start to put on size until my senior year. And then it was well after that before I really started to grow. So how big were you when you entered high school? Oh, man. When I was a freshman, I was lucky if I was 5'2.

No way. Yeah, as a freshman, I was at the most 5'4, but that's pushing it. And, you know, I still had like that, you know, pre-puberty. kind of chubbiness going on. And I just, everybody was blowing up except me. And it was very frustrating. And I was just like, so in my head,

you know, fortunately at the time I was a huge Jeff Hardy fan. So in my head, I'm like, all right, I'm just going to be the little guy. So I started practicing flips and corkscrews. And I was on a trampoline every single day of my life after school, perfecting moonsaults and swanthons and just everything. And then, of course, I perfect all these acrobatic moves and then I blow up, you know, after my senior year.

But that's also you see a little bit of that today. You know, your body doesn't forget some of that stuff. So you see me bust out an occasional swan time even today. At what point did you realize like, I love wrestling enough that I could actually try to pursue this and maybe possibly get paid to do this one day? Oh, man. I've always been such a big dreamer. that I believed it when I was in elementary school. I mean, it was, I was locked in, like, this is what I'm going to do,

and there's nothing that's going to, you know, bear me away from that. And I was very confident, even, you know, through school, elementary, junior high, high school especially, that this is what I was going to do for a living. And it was a weird thing because I knew what my life was going to be, almost to a fault, probably to a fault. I think I was overconfident while I was leaving high school because I knew I was going to be the superstar pro wrestler.

You know, life happens, and you make some bad choices, and I went very far from that path for a number of years. And fortunately, found my way back, and destiny is destiny, man. It doesn't matter how far you go off track. If you're born to do something, you'll find a way. You mentioned making mistakes along the way, and I'm curious, what's the biggest thing you've learned about yourself from some of these mistakes? A few of the biggest things is, well, A, don't be overconfident. Don't be, you have to be confident, of course.

You have to be sure of yourself. Maybe I was a little too cocky about it. Maybe I'm, you know, this is a long time ago now, but I think maybe I just, I thought it was. so guaranteed that I didn't have to work for it maybe. And I think, and I think I just kind of took my off of all. It was too much friends, too much party, rather than training, dieting. So I would say just keeping your focus, keeping your circle small, make sure you surround yourself with people that either have the same dreams as you or ambitions as you.

Yeah. Just watch what you surround yourself with and make sure you're consistent with the things you're supposed to be doing for your future. This episode is brought to you by Athletic Greens, which is a super important part of my morning routine. With one scoop of athletic greens, you get 75 high-quality vitamins, whole-foods, superfoods, and probiotics

to help you start your day right. This special blend of ingredients supports your gut health, your nervous system, your immune system, your energy, recovery, focus, aging, all the things. And best of all, it tastes. It's amazing, and it's really helped with better sleep quality and recovery for me. Whether you eat keto, paleo, vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, whatever it is, it fits right into your diet. Look, lots of people take some kind of multivitamin, and I think it's important to choose one with high-quality ingredients that your body will actually absorb.

That's why I drink athletic greens every morning, and that's why it's recommended by professional athletes in all kinds of different sports. right now it's time to reclaim your health and arm your immune system with convenient daily nutrition, especially since it's cold and flu season right now. It's just one scoop in a cup of water every day. That's it. No need for a million different pills and supplements to look out for your health. And to make it easy, Athletic Greens is going to give you a free one-year supply of immune-supporting vitamin D and five free travel packs with your first purchase.

All you have to do is visit Athletic Greens.com. Insight. Again, that's athletic greens.com slash insight to take ownership over your health and pick up the ultimate daily nutritional insurance. Athletic Greens. Before you signed with AEW, I know you had an audition or trial with WW. Do you feel like having that audition with them made you go, okay, this is possible? I've dreamed this for a long time. This is possible. I'm going to go wrestle professionally somewhere. God, almost the opposite. Really?

Because, I mean, I aced that tryout. I mean, with flying colors and they didn't want me. So for the first time in my life, I went, oh, well, maybe this isn't going to happen. You know, fortunately, I stuck with it and I was determined to make it happen one way or another. And I thank God every day that AEW came about. But yeah, man, being denied, that was a unique experience and a unique feeling. It put me where I needed to be. So I'm happy for it.

Yeah, because I think there was a point in time before there were other options where it was like, all right, if I didn't get signed from this tryout, I got away from my next trial and then hope to get signed with that one. If that doesn't work, I just got to hope for the next one. Dude, at that time, that was it. Yeah. I mean, you had impact. And I was emailing them, you know, every other week.

Like, because realistically, if it wasn't WVE, the only real thing left was impact. And if not impact, then you're just trying to get booked on the Indies. Because that's what, you know, they said, go make a name for yourself. I accepted that challenge. Funny how that works out, right? Yeah, how you like my name now? So, uh, so yeah, man, it's, uh, You know, I just kept going.

I was trying to get booked on like bigger indie shows to make a name for myself, you know, try to get out there. And fortunately, it wasn't too long after that. In which I started to, I did like Warrior Wrestling in Chicago, which is a little bit of a bigger promotion. And started branching out a little bit, went to Canada, and then Greek town wrestling. And then fortunately woke up one day and had a phone call from QT Marshall

and the rest of history. How do you think you've gone on QT's? radar. It was active, man. It's one of those perfect storms. It was like three or four different people had mentioned my name to Cody all within like three weeks time. So it started with Britt Baker because her and I came up together in IWC in Pittsburgh.

We both pretty much started off there. So she had mentioned my name to Cody. Like, hey, you know, my friend Ward, though, he's pretty good. You should give him a look. Okay. Then, gosh, what's his name? They have a guy that they're working with that QT partners with at the factory that came and did a seminar and Lloyd. And he, he was in WCW Glacier. I kind of wanted to say sub-zero. He did the sub-zero gimmick. We would have figured it out. Yeah, I knew his real name, but I was trying to think of his work name. Um, he did a seminar at IWC and watched me work.

And he ended up watching my badge and called Cody the next day going, Hey, you might want to take a look at this guy. Um, and then I think there was one more individual for warrior wrestling that had meant to contacted Cody about me. So it was like this perfect storm. He kept hearing my name from so many people that he went. Okay, let's give this guy shot. Yeah.

And then did they immediately go this is the person we're going to pair with MJF? Not immediately. When I first met them, it was just, okay, we're going to do it. You know, start coming up with some things and we'll figure stuff out. And it was, it was months before that kind of worked itself out where they decided to go that route. I mean, you've spent a lot of time now with Max. And he's a very difficult person to like. He's an often individual.

what's the biggest thing you think you've learned from from him man i think the biggest thing is just like the business aspect of things um like knowing your worth and and making sure you're getting the most um out of situations and he has a really good mind for the business and storytelling so i think the biggest things is just the business aspect of it and then things that make sense, things that truly do or do not make sense as far as storytelling. We saw you in the ring recently with CM Punk, which was, look, it's so cool that CM Punk is back wrestling again.

What was it like to have a match with him? Dude, honestly, I'm still waking up every morning just feeling like I hit the lottery. like I assume this is like if you hit the lottery you wake up every day just like oh yeah this is my life now it's kind of the feeling that I just it's it brought such a sense of peace and fulfillment over me and it's weird like those big matches usually leading up to it I'm very tense I'm very focused I'm very tense it's honestly kind of hard to be around me those few days leading up to a big match because I'm just so zoned in and this time I wasn't at all, and I think it was simply because I didn't believe it.

Like, I'm not wrestling CM Punk in three days, so it's just another normal day. And then the day of the show, it all hit me. It all hit me the day of. I was like, okay, this is happening. And that was possibly the most nervous I've ever been before a match. But that was also the most comfortable I've ever been in a match. It was a very unique experience. But yeah, the fact that I got the rest of seeing punk,

that's something I'd never thought I'd be able to do. And even though you didn't win, like you very much were put over in that match. Like you came out of that match looking really good. I didn't win, but I won. Exactly. So, I mean, that's a bucket list item that you didn't even know could be on your bucket list,

you know, when you saw it with the HW. So now what's on the bucket list? You know, I almost want to put impossible things on that bucket list. Now you can, right? It's like, man, dude, can we get Dave Batista to make an appearance? Can we get Jeff Hardy in? That seems pretty possible. Can I have a six-man tag match with Matt and Jeff Hardy as my tag team partners?

I think the answer to that's actually yes. Yeah, that would be at the top of the bucket list. Wow. What about, I mean, I think the answer is probably obvious here, but when it comes to championships, is that something that's on your radar? Not to sound too selfish, I want them all. I would like to hold the tag team titles.

I want the TNT title. I want the heavyweight title. It doesn't have to be all at the same time, cool if they are. But individually over time, I want to accomplish as much in everything I can within this company. Yeah. Well, you mentioned Jeff Hardy earlier. Was he your guy growing up? Yeah. Well, so I've been a lifelong fan. So you have the generations. So when I was a little kid,

it started with Brett Hart. He was the first one that really captured my attention, him and Mr. Perfect. And then I get a little bit older and it was Kevin Nash and The Rock, especially Kevin Nash, man. I was obsessed with Kevin Nash when I was a kid for some reason. I just I thought he was the coolest fan. And then after Nash, it was very much Jeff Hardy for a very long time and only Jeff Hardy. Have you had a chance to meet all of these people that you just listed? I've met Brett. I've met Kevin Nash and I've met Jeff.

I've yet to meet The Rock or Batista. So hopefully one day because those two men still. are my motivation and inspire me to this day, specifically those two. I mean, what the Rock is doing with his life now. I mean, Batista, too, the same thing. I mean, they're just taking over Hollywood and doing big, big things. So they still motivate me to this day. But yeah, Jeff Hardy was, he was the one for a long time until Batista came about.

And I'm in high school and I'm starting to work out. And then it was very much Batista. were you inspired it all by Goldberg and the reason I ask is because he's Bill Goldberg you are Michael Wardlaw I don't know if everybody knows that's your legit last name now you're the one name last name guy same with Dave Batista well yeah that's true yeah so yeah so I've it's so weird even today to put myself in this pool or to categorize myself with these names but yeah you look at guys that have used their real name that have a certain appeal to them.

Brock Lesnar, Brock Lesnar, Dave Batista, Batista, Bill Goldberg, Goldberg, Michael Wardle, Wardlow, like you said. So yeah, the Batista and the Goldberg things, that's always been a trippy thing to me. Because, yeah, I was a huge Goldberg fan. Grown up, of course. So the whole Goldberg-Betista Wardlow thing

is just a little subtle thing that's very, very cool to me. Also, Kurt Engel, who you've been in the ring with. Like, you trained with Kurt Engel. yes dude that guy we clicked so well in the ring I mean just the first time we touched it was just

easy I mean we worked so well together and he's such a good dude I mean he would come train with us you know he was getting ready for his WrestleMania match and then he would hang out after and just talk to us like we were all friends

I mean it was such a great experience getting A, to work with him in the ring, but also just to sit and kind of get to know him and see who he is as a person. He's a great guy. And I think when you're surrounded by someone who has been there and done it, and you know, you do this every week on Rampage or Dynamite,

you're backstage with these legends in the industry, it kind of makes you go, oh, if they can do it, if they've carved the path to get there, I can do it too. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we're very blessed to have. guys literally just mapping out our futures for us. Like they're literally just showing us the way. And we're very lucky to have the people we have backstage to guide us and educate us along the way.

Whose brain do you pick the most? Like there are so many legends backstage in AW. Whose brain do you think you pick the most? There's a lot. So big show in Mark Henry. I've had some very good conversations with. Arne Anderson, Jerry Lynn is one of the most helpful individuals I've ever met. He helps everybody at every turn.

Great guy. FTR and Sean Spears have given me a tremendous amount of knowledge, advice, do's and don'ts. And I'm very appreciative of FTR and Spears. I mean, they've given me probably the most. And then beyond that, is Billy Gunn. He every week, every week gives me something, even if it's something tiny, he gives me something every week to work on. And every week I come back with that in mind. And then it's like, okay, did I do it? Yep. All right, now do this. So every week gives me a little

something. I'm very appreciative of Billy Gunn. I think it's like it's such a testament to your hard work and who you are that your name is coming up a lot recently. Like you're making a lot of headlines recently. What do you attribute that to? What, just the recent? Yeah, I mean, that's a really interesting one. I don't know how much you want to talk about that, but it's a really interesting thing that like people go,

who would go from AW to WW to WWE? And like you were at the top of everybody's list. Oh, yeah. Well, I mean, like I said, I was always, I always believed I was going to walk in WWE's front door. and they were going to go, what took you so long? Get over here. So, so I'm, you know, I don't want to sound cocky,

but I'm very confident that I was confident years ago. And it didn't happen, you know, but I still feel like a certain individual in that company would look at me and go, oh, you're my guy. Yeah. So I'm not surprised. I feel like I'm right up their alley of what their cookie cutter, wrestler would be.

But hey, they had their shot. Yeah, and you're a guy who's been with AEW since their first television program. And like, when you think about the AEW roster, think about you. Yeah, but sorry, to further answer your question, I think the recent, I think just with the storyline, you know, it's been building,

I went from wrestling once every, you know, four months to I've been consistently on TV. So I think, you know, out of sight, out of mind maybe. So now we're starting to see me every week. The storyline's kind of getting a little more interesting. People are starting to see a different side of me other than just silent, standing there in a suit. Then obviously to see him punk buzz. I think it's a little bit of everything.

People are starting to see me kind of step up to that next level. And obviously, maybe it's getting some attention. Well, you've caught lightning in a bottle because like you said, it's a bunch of things, is culminating at the same time. I want to take things back, though, because you got on everybody's radar when you had the cage match with Cody. And I think that a lot of people went, like,

first of all, Cody moonsaulting off the cage, insane, but they went, other than that, that match was amazing. Thank you, man. Yeah, that is up there with the CN Punk match. The CN Punk match and the Cody match, Those are the two best days of my life, the two happiest days of my life. And that was the same thing, man.

That match, the difference is, seeing a punk match, I actually took the time to enjoy myself. Like, I finally just calmed down, and I looked around at the crowd, and I was in the moment, truly. The Cody match was like a blackout. It was all business. It was like, let's get through this. So I don't really remember much of the Cody match vividly.

Like I will have seen a punk match just because so much pressure. First time on TV, first match, Cody and I had never touched. So it was, you know, before I walked out of the curtain, Tony Khan looked at me and said, you know, dude, don't have this up, you know. So it's like all the pressure in the world. but I feel like I thrive in high pressure situations. I think that's what truly makes me me, is you put me in a high pressure situation.

I will perform. Did Cody tell you day of? You know what? I've got a big spot in mind. I'm going to climb up. I'm going to do a moonsault off of here. Or had you guys been talking about it maybe the week prior? I think it was like the day before.

I think the day before he's like, I might or may not. I may or may not. Yeah. He's like, haven't really thought about it yet. I got to get a feel for it. And then we arrived. Not only you can practice that either. No, yeah, there's no practicing it.

And then sure enough, we come to this stadium and there's the cage is about six feet higher than it's supposed to be. So I'm like, yeah, this ought to be great. I mean, you've caught lots of people as they're coming off the top rope or, you know, from the ring to the outside, but I imagine that's a different setup. Honestly, my biggest fear was that, and I'm still surprised they didn't. I was afraid he was going to rip my arm out of my socket or tear something or pull something as that's a lot of weight coming down from very, very high up.

And all that impact was on my one arm and shoulder. So how we made it out of that with him just having, I think, a broken toe was all. We're very lucky. Man, when you sit next to somebody on an airplane, did they immediately go, yep, this guy's a pro wrestler? I get that a lot. I actually, I actually had to stop wearing any type of sports hoodies like professional football. if I put a professional football jacket, shirt, hoodie on, everybody comes up to me, oh, you play for that team, you play for that team.

So I just stopped. Like I would wear my Ohio State buddy. Everybody's like, oh, you play on Ohio State? It's like, no. And then I go, I'm a professional wrestler. And then that sparks a whole new conversation. Right. But I get, what do you do for a living a lot?

And they're expecting like one of three things, I'm sure, is the answer. Yes. You can't be like, well, I'm actually an accountant. Yeah, right. That used to be me kind of. I worked at a car dealership behind a desk. Were you selling cars? No, I ran the service facility.

So I managed the mechanics and all the cars coming in that needed work on. I was the bearer of bad news. Hey, you came here for an oil change, but you needed $1,000 worth of work. Yeah. And then they're like, do I really, Michael? Do I? Yeah, and then I would just flex and they'd be like, oh, okay, we'll do it. I'm always so curious to hear about people's life before they go full time into wrestling.

So when you were working in the Indies, you were also working at a car dealership? Yeah, which is why, you know, the Indies took me so long to really get a groove because I can only, I've worked so much. And I can only wrestle like twice a month. Sure. Which, I mean, you're not going to get too far doing that. So I did that for years and then finally, you know, got some opportunities and just finally quit the job and moved in with my parents and just went all in with it. So was AEW what allowed you to go in all in? No. It kind of started once I knew I was going to get an opportunity for a tryout.

That's how confident I was. I was like, all as I need is to get my foot in the door and it's game over. So once I knew I might be getting a try out, I just said, I'm putting all my eggs in one basket and we're making it happen. And man, I did nothing for six months. No dates, no friends, no nothing. I completely secluded myself. And it was just me and my dog for six months. I'd wake up every day and run and then eat and relax and then go to the gym, sometimes twice a day.

day and I got into at the time the best shape of my life and uh and moved in with my parents and it was ready to go we're going to do this trial and then i'm moving Orlando and your dog's still with you on this journey um he is with my mother now because i'm gone too much so um he's with my mother which is good i they need each other. And so it gives me a reason to visit both of them at once, which is nice. So if you had blind faith that this was going to work out, and congratulations, by the way, that you had the confidence in yourself. And then not only that, because a lot of people believe something's going to happen and for whatever reason, life steers them a different way,

but you put in the work to make this happen. So if you had the blind faith that this was going to work out. What do you now have the blind faith for in your own life that's going to work out to five, 10 years from now? You know, I think about that and it's such a unique feeling of being confident that these things can happen, but also it being so astronomical that it's like, can it really happen? Um, you know, you see what Batista and the Rock are doing with their lives. You know, obviously my body can only hold up for so long. And I want to wrestle for as many years as I can. I got a late start.

That's on me. I have a lot of time to make up for. And I still want to have as long of a wrestling career as possible. I have a lot to accomplish. But when the day comes that I can't go anymore, I would love to get into doing, you know, voiceover work or acting on some level. I would love to get into that at some point. You could just be Jason Mamoa stunt man.

I say less. Big Jason Mamoa fan. So yes, if not his stunt double, just put me on screen with him and Batista. And we can just keep the hell out of each other on the big screen. Sign me up for that. Jeez. Yeah, if I can't get Batista,

in the ring, I'll meet him on the big screen. Well, he told me he's never, ever returning his, he actually told me he'd rather go broke than wrestle again. So I think you'll just have to share a screen with him. Yeah, yeah. No, I know. And I know he said that. So that's why I'm thinking I have a better chance at Hollywood.

So my first Hello Fresh box just arrived, and I am loving this. With Hello Fresh, you get fresh, pre-measured ingredients and delicious seasonal recipes delivered right to your door. Hello Fresh lets you skip those trips to the grocery store and makes home cooking easy, fun, and affordable. And that's why it's America's number one meal kit. The recipes are so easy to follow.

They're quick to make. They even have pictures to guide you along the way. And hey, if I can do it, you can do it too. They offer 50 weekly recipes featuring a range of flavors, cuisines, and ingredients, so you'll never get bored and you can try something new every week. I'm subscribed to the fit and wholesome box and, man, that crispy Parmesan chicken that my girlfriend, Rachel and I whipped up, so good.

Also, the pecan-crusted chicken. Also, do you say pecan or pecan? Pecan-crusted chicken, pecan-crusted chicken. Either way, amazing. And it saved a ton of money for something that tasted just as good as going to a restaurant. And we did it in about 30 minutes. sometimes less. Go to hellofresh.com slash Insight 16 and use the code Insight 16 for up to 16 free meals and three free gifts.

That's Hellofresh.com slash Insight 16. Use that code Insight 16 for up to 16 free meals and three free gifts. Hello Fresh, America's number one meal kit. I imagine a lot of your day is eating chicken and working out. and, you know, figuring out when you're going to be in the ring next. What do you do in your spare time that might surprise us? I really enjoy mountain biking. I don't know if that's a surprise, but it's just one thing I really enjoy doing

just to get a workout and be out in the woods is like my favorite thing. But honestly, man, you know, I get asked this question and it really makes me realize I have a bit of a boring life. Like, I genuinely love working out. Like, that is, when I'm at home, that's the highlight of my day. So my whole day is based around going to the gym. So, yeah, I wake up, I eat, and then you relax or you run some errands, go to the grocery store, eat some more.

And then you just eat every few hours until it's time to go to the gym. when you go to the gym and come home and eat some more until you go to bed. I mean, I don't know. That might be sad, but I love it. Do you bring your meals with you when you travel? I do. So when you, let's say for Dynamite, how many meals do you pack in your suitcase? So I actually, I travel, travel day.

I bring my meals. Okay. Because when I'm at Dynamite, our catering actually has every. everything I need. They also have like cookies and chocolate cake though as well. They do. There are healthy options and not healthy options. Though it takes yes a lot of willpower to walk through walk through the buffet and grab the rice and the chicken and avoid all the snacks. But I think so yeah, I'm sure catering is amazing but what about when you wake up Wednesday morning in the hotel? what did you eat it? Oh, yeah, I usually, if there's a place to go to breakfast that has what I need,

I'll go. If not, I'll Instacart stuff right to my hotel. But my normal breakfast, as of right now, it changes here and there. But it's been this for, gosh, almost four or five months now. It's going to continue to be this, I think, for the next few months. For breakfast, we're having eight egg whites, five tablespoons of almonds a couple of blueberries six ounces plain Greek yogurt and I just eat some plain rice cakes for a little bit of carbs so you're counting macros is what you're saying oh yeah everything's getting weighed and measured and we're on point right now how many calories in total for a day it's it's give or take around 3,500.

Okay. Yeah. And without getting too deep into the weeds here, but what's the split look like with carbs and fats and protein? I'm just so fascinated by this. So I have, let's see, Monday through Thursday are high carb days. Friday and Sunday are low carb days. Okay, no, I'm sorry.

Monday through Thursday, mid-card, Friday, Sunday, low-carb, Saturday, high-carb. So, you know, we put the carbs in and out. I have days where I get to load up days where we take it easy. I know as we get a little closer to pay-per-views and stuff, we cut carbs a little extra, which always sucks. But yeah, we've been just kind of experimenting with me, kind of trying to find what works for me, what foods. I react well to what we need to cut out, what we need to add. So we've kind of over the past year, I've been perfecting the diet and the training to try to get me where we want to be. And I think we nailed it the past few months.

You nailed it. Look, to look jacked in a suit is not an easy accomplishment. Yeah. Have you thought about wrestling in trunks instead of the singlet to really show yourself off? What, will I? Is that what you're at? I mean, maybe one day. I might one day.

Yeah, we'll see. Man, the more of the singlets I get, and the prettier they are, the less I want to change my gear. Because, man, that purple one, I think, had more, I think there was more reviews on my gear than the match itself. You have great gear. You have great gear. I will say, I think I have the best gear in pro wrestling,

at least that purple set was. But, yeah, one day. It's January as we're having this conversation right now. What do you think is in store for Wardlow in the rest of 2022? Man, it's crazy. It's only January. And I've already wrestled CM-Pong. I celebrate my birthday in two days.

Happy early birthday. Thank you. And next week we're in Cleveland. So it's like January's already. ready just bananas. So if this is any indication of what's to come for the rest of this year, I envision myself having a very, very, very good year. Like you said, the year's already off to such an amazing start for you. That's been the best month in the world so far. What are the odds that we might see a match with MJF at some point this year?

Oh, God. Who knows, man? I mean, obviously, tensions have been high, and he loves adjusting my contract. And he seems to make changes to it weekly, which is starting to get under my skin a little bit. You know, but we've been together for two years. You know, he pays me to watch his back. So, you know, that's technically my job. So I will continue to do so as long as I'm under contract to do so because that's my job and I do my job and I do it well. But, you know, who knows what happens. You know, I know that contract isn't forever. So who knows what will happen down the road. I'm so excited for what this year has in store with for you. And I'm just so glad we were able to have this conversation.

Me too, man. me too i think i have a feeling later this year we'll be doing this again i think we're going to have to talk about i end every conversation with the same question because i'm all about gratitude i wake up and i say out loud three things that i'm grateful for so for you right now what are three things in your life that you're grateful for uh number one my health because without our health we are nothing. So I'm very thankful to just be healthy. I'm thankful for AEW

because they made my childhood wildest dreams come true and continue to do so every week. And I'm just thankful for the support I have personally in my life, my mother and my girlfriend and friends and family that just show me so much love and support and are always in my corner.

I love it. I've also been thinking this whole interview that the base in people's ears from your voice is just booming right now. Oh, God, really? Well, think about it. Come on. It's great. Yeah, I know.

I get comments. See, I used to get comments when I worked at the car dealership. Once a week I would have a customer tell me, you have a great voice for radio. You should really be doing radio. And so that's why I said the voiceover thing. I feel like maybe I might have a good voice for doing voiceover work. I don't know.

Yeah, you've got the next 60 years of your life to figure that out, really. Yeah, right. I mean, you'll always be able to speak. So, you know, you can be a voiceover artist in your 60s and 70s maybe. Absolutely, yeah. That'll be the retirement plan. Done. Love it.

But we've got retired for a long time. Wardlow, thank you so much. This has been so insightful and just like a really great peek at like, like, behind at who you actually are. So I really appreciate it. Thank you, man. I really appreciate being able to do this. Like I said, it's been on the bucket list for a while. And I'm excited for people to get to see a little different side of them. So very cool. Thanks again. Thank you, man. All right. Such a great chat with Wardlow. And I told you, a completely different side of him

here than what you see on TV. Big thank you to him for taking the time and spending it with us. Thank you to you for taking your time and also spending it with us. I'm telling you, Wardlow has endless potential, and I can't wait to continue to see him shine in 2022. Take a screenshot. Let us know you're listening, share this with a friend, and tag us on social media so we can repost this and reshare this. He's at Real Wardlow.

I'm at Chris Van Vleet, and I'll leave you with the wise words of Vince Lombardi, who said, the measure of who we are is what we do with what we have. Be great, be grateful. We will see you on the next one for some more insight. Jim Rome takes on sports. Why? Because I have a job to do.

With rapid fire takes. So I don't want to hear from you lava pigs on this notion today. No idea what you're talking about. You're complaining more than you like to breathe air. It's like you get up in the morning only to come. complain and cry and moan on social media about things that you don't even understand. He's the spitfire of sports smack. Take advantage of it, but get up in here.

The Jim Rome Show podcast. What's your beef? Follow and listen on your favorite platform. You've been warned.