NORFOLK, VA (WTKR) — Michael Wardlow remembers the feeling of walking into Chartway Arena for All Elite Wrestling's debut show in Virginia.
At the time, he was part of a villainous group called The Pinnacle.
"There were a lot of boos here and there," Wardlow said.
Now the 34-year-old, who simply goes by his last name "Wardlow", returns to Norfolk on Wednesday for AEW Dynamite as a fan favorite. He's currently the promotion's TNT Champion.
"To now have the entire arena cheering my name is a very beautiful thing," he said. "The things have that have transpired over the last year are things that I thought about, dreamt about, obsessed about growing up."
AEW returns to the 757 building up to it's final pay-per-view event of 2022, Full Gear. That combined with returning to a city the company has only visited one other time has given the wrestlers working Wednesday night's show a bit of extra intrigue.
"When you don't come to these cities," Wardlow explained, "the crowd seems that much more fired up to have us here. So I'm very excited to hear the reaction."
What I learned today: @RealWardlow and I share a common love for Batista and you cannot ask Wardlow to just name one favorite restaurant.
— Zach Staton (@ZStatonSports) October 24, 2022
Fun chat with the @AEW TNT Champion, catch the rest of our chat tomorrow on @WTKR3 before AEW Dynamite heads to Chartway Arena on Wednesday. pic.twitter.com/rHNRuRy4xa
He says fans who haven't experienced what a live AEW brings are in for a treat.
"It's a light show, a concert, it is a play," Wardlow said. "There's comedy, there's drama, there's action, there's fighting. It is every form of entertainment balled up into one. There's nothing like a live professional wrestling show, so if you've never been, I promise you it is worth checking out."
The show will broadcast live on TBS starting at 8:00 p.m. Tickets to the show are available at AEWTix.com.
