Despite being All Elite, Wardlow has actually been under contract to MJF.
MJF has stripped Wardlow of his music, had him barred from the arena, and has him escorted to the ring via handcuffs since, technically, Wardlow is under contract to MJF.
Many fans have wondered why Tony Khan simply doesn't buy Wardlow out of his contract with MJF.
"MJF and his family have a lot of money and to be fair, I'm making smart business decisions for the company and we have Wardlow, he's still performing on the company right now and it's on MJF's dime. We work with a lot of people through the Forbidden Door and this is no different. It's a lot of partnerships," said Tony Khan to Brandon Walker of Rasslin when asked why he doesn't purchase Wardlow's contract.
Wardlow can get out of his contract with MJF should he defeat him at AEW Double or Nothing. However, if Wardlow loses, he can never sign with AEW.
The conditions were laid out during Wednesday's AEW Dynamite contract signing between the two.