Wardlow grew up with a single mother and two older sisters. He practiced boxing and jujitsu.

Wardlow made his independent debut in 2014 working for promotions such as American Revolution Wrestling, International Wrestling Cartel (where he won the heavyweight title three times) and Revenge Pro Wrestling, also winning the heavyweight title there.

In 2018 he auditioned for NXT, but despite the excellent skills shown, WWE did not hire him.

Wardlow made his AEW debut on the November 13, 2019 episode of AEW Dynamite by attacking Cody and taking on the bodyguard role of the latter's rival, MJF; some time later the two entered the Inner Circle, a faction led by Chris Jericho, from which they then left in March 2021 by founding their own stable, The Pinnacle.

The group went through ups and downs which led to strong tensions between its own members culminating in a heated confrontation on March 2, 2022 between MJF and Wardlow, in which the former slapped the latter.

The following March 6, at Revolution, Wardlow won the Ladder match for a shot at the TNT Championship and then helped CM Punk win his Dog Collar match against MJF. On the following episode of Dynamite he formalized his exit from the Pinnacle. After beating MJF out of his contract he officially became a member of the roster by winning his first match on June 1st.

On the July 6 episode of Dynamite, he exploited his opportunity at the TNT Championship by defeating Scorpio Sky in a street fight match, thus winning his first title in AEW.